-v^,*  ' 


^J '  'L. :a ''J, '%  ='-''- 'f  '^y i^'W "■■'■/ "'  *  '^^ 


^^ 


'■ifr 


"^".fi^v 


'W 


POOR  RELIEF 


NORTH  CAROLINA 


SPECIAL  BULLETIN  No.  4 

ISSUED  BY  THE 

NORTH  CAROLINA  STATE  BOARD  OF  CHARITIES 
AND  PUBLIC  WELFARE 

RALEIGH,  N.  C. 
1925 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/poorreliefinnortOObrow 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 


Mrs.  Kate  Burr  Johnson, 

Commissioner  of  Public  Welfare, 
Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Madam  : — I  am  submitting  herewith  a  brief  study  of  poor  relief  in 
^orth  Carolina.  The  study,  based  upon  figures  available  from  reports 
for  the  last  three  years,  includes  also  a  summary  of  progress  for  the 
period  since  1919,  as  represented  by  new  buildings.  The  study  is  offered 
for  publication  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  helpful  to  boards  of  county 
commissioners,  county  boards  of  public  welfare,  county  superintendents 
of  public  welfare,  and  others  who  have  to  do  with  the  administration 
of  poor  relief  in  N'orth  Carolina. 

Respectfully, 

Roy  M.  Brown, 
Director  Bureau  of  InstHutional  Supervision. 
October  30,  1924. 


FOREWORD 


In  1922,  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  undertook  to 
make  a  rather  intensive  study  of  poor  relief  in  the  State.  A  comprehensive 
questionnaire  was  sent  to  the  superintendents  of  public  welfare.  The  direc- 
tor of  the  Bureau  of  Institutional  Supervision  of  the  State  Board  visited  a 
large  number  of  homes.  Within  the  last  two  years  these  visits  have  been 
continued  until  practically  all  of  the  county  homes  in  the  State  have  been 
visited,  some  of  them  several  times.  It  has  not  been  practical  to  repeat  the 
sort  of  survey  made  in  1922,  for  the  succeeding  years.  Figures  as  to  farm 
products  are,  therefore,  not  available.  For  these  reasons,  and  for  the  addi- 
tional reason  that  the  year  1921  immediately  follows  the  census  year,  this 
year  has  been  chosen  as  the  basis  for  this  study.  Such  figures  as  are  avail- 
able for  the  succeeding  two  years  are  given  as  a  basis  of  comparison.  Thanks 
are  due  Dr.  J.  F.  Steiner  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  and  members  of 
one  of  his  classes  in  statistics  for  aid  in  tabulating  much  of  the  information 
on  which  this  bulletin  is  based. 


POOR  RELIEF  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE   COUNTY  HOME   FARM 

The  poorhouse  of  the  early  days  of  the  State's  history  to  a  very  much 
greater  extent  even  than  the  county  home  of  today,  was  the  dumping  ground 
for  all  the  misfits  of  society.  It  was  the  direct  descendant  of  the  old  Eng- 
lish workhouse.  It  was  maintained  quite  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
posing of  certain  undesirable  classes  of  the  population  as  of  caring  for  the 
indigent.  The  first  attempt  at  legislation  for  poor  relief  in  North  Carolina 
was  a  bill  introduced  in  the  Colonial  Assembly,  April  7,  1749,  designated  a 
bill  for  the  "relief  of  the  poor  and  the  prevention  of  idleness."  Likewise  the 
first  law  enacted  by  the  Colony,  1755,  provided  for  the  restraint  of  vagrants 
as  well  as  for  making  provision  for  the  poor. 

Since  vagrants  and  other  minor  offenders,  able-bodied  people,  were  to  be 
sent  to  the  poorhouses,  which  were  gradually  provided  in  the  various  coun- 
ties, it  was  wisely  decided  that  the  able-bodied  inmates  should  contribute 
to  their  own  support.  The  most  natural  thing  in  the  early  days  of  the  State 
was  to  decide  that  this  could  be  best  accomplished  by  putting  these  inmates 
to  work  on  the  farm.  It  became  the  custom,  therefore,  to  place  the  poor- 
house  on  a  farm  and  to  expect  it  to  be  largely  self-supporting. 

There  is  little  reason  to  believe  that  these  farms,  except  perhaps  in  rare 
instances,  were  ever  successfully  operated.  Often  the  determining  factor  in 
securing  land  for  the  poor  farm  was  that  a  large  number  of  acres  could  be 
purchased  for  a  small  sum  of  money.  Often  the  land  selected  was  unde- 
sirable for  farming  because  of  its  lack  of  fertility,  or  its  inaccessibility,  or 
both.  The  management,  both  from  the  point  of  view  of  equipment  and  of 
supervision,  was  usually  as  unintelligent  as  the  purchase. 

The  population  of  the  county  home  has  changed.  "Vagabonds  and  rogues" 
are  still  sent  to  the  county  poor  farm,  but  not  in  so  great  numbers  as  for- 
merly. Children  are  not  found  in  nearly  so  great  numbers  as  was  once  the 
case.  The  violent  insane  and  the  epileptics  have  in  large  measure  been 
provided  for.  A  beginning  has  been  made  toward  State  care  for  the  feeble- 
minded. But  the  poor  farm  remains.  Practically  all  the  county  homes  in 
the  State  have  considerable  farms,  or  at  least  areas  of  land,  attached.  As 
shown  by  a  careful  census  made  in  1922,  of  the  ninety-four  counties  owning 
poor  farms  only  six  counties — Beaufort,  Carteret,  Dare,  Hyde,  Pasquotank, 
and  Tyrrell — have  holdings  of  less  than  twenty-five  acres.  Eight  others — 
Craven,  Lenoir,  Madison,  Wloore,  Richmond,  Robeson,  Wilson,  and  Yancey — 
report  acreages  ranging  from  twenty-five  to  fifty.  Twenty-nine  counties  have 
farms  of  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  acres;  twenty  counties,  of  from 
two  hundred  to  four  hundred  acres;  and  nine,  of  more  than  four  hundred 
acres.  Within  the  last  two  years  Alamance,  Chatham,  Vance,  Nash,  and 
Halifax  have  built  new  homes  on  reduced  acreages. 

As  a  rule  the  county  home  farms  are  poorly  equipped  with  farm  ma- 
chinery and  livestock.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  they  are  poorly 
farmed.  Thirty-six  county  homes  with  farms  ranging  from  a  few  acres  to 
three  hundred  acres  report  no  farm  machinery.  The  same  number  report 
no  livestock  belonging  to  the  county.  It  is  most  unusual  to  find  any  live- 
stock belonging  to  the  county  except  hogs — in  some  instances  a  fine  herd — 
and  an  occasional  cow.  The  keeper  of  the  home  who  operates  the  farm 
furnishes  his  own  machinery  and  stock.     His  financial  condition  is,  almost 


8  Poor  Relief  in  ]^orth  Carolina 

without  exception,  such  that  he  cannot  furnish  the  equipment  necessary  for 
the  efficient  cultivation  of  the  land  entrusted  to  him.  He,  therefore,  pro- 
ceeds to  work  a  portion  of  the  land  after  the  inefficient  and,  to  the  land 
itself,  as  well  as  to  the  farmer,  ruinous  methods  of  the  unsupervised  tenant 
farmer.  Only  occasionally  do  we  find  a  farm  that  shows  evidence  of  intelli- 
gent management.  Such  an  exception  is  the  county  home  farm  in  Iredell 
County.  Here,  under  the  direction  of  an  intelligent  superintendent  who  has 
been  in  charge  for  eighteen  years,  the  county  home  farm  has  been  brought 
to  a  state  of  productiveness  scarcely  surpassed  in  this  excellent  agricultural 
county. 

County  homes  in  the  State  own  approximately  sixteen  thousand  acres  of 
land.  Of  this  about  one-fourth,  or  a  little  more  than  four  thousand  acres, 
is  in  cultivation.  Twelve  thousand  acres — three-fourths  of  the  total  acre- 
age— are  idle.  Of  this  waste  land,  the  keepers  of  the  county  homes  report 
that  five  thousand  additional  acres  are  cultivable.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
nearly  all  of  it  could  be  put  in  condition  for  profitable  cultivation. 

Actual   Conditions 

A  few  specific  instances  may  give  a  clearer  picture  of  the  actual  conditions 
on  county  home  farms.  Among  the  counties  which  own  no  farm  machinery 
or  livestock  in  connection  with  the  county  home  farm  are  Ashe,  with  farm 
lands  reported  to  be  worth  thirteen  thousand  dollars;  Cleveland,  with  a 
farm  valued  at  thirty-two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars;  and  Johnston,  with 
lands  worth  twenty-four  thousand  dollars.  Anson,  whose  holdings  in  lands 
for  the  county  home  are  valued  at  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  owns  no  farm 
machinery  and  had  thirty-five  dollars  invested  in  livestock.  Guilford  re- 
ported land  worth  thirty  thousand  dollars.  She  reported  only  two  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  farm  machinery  and  no  livestock.  Alamance  had  two  years 
ago  farm  lands  worth  twelve  thousand  dollars,  and  one  hundred  dollars 
worth  of  farm  machinery.  She  has  since  disposed  of  this  farm  and  has 
built  a  new  home  on  a  smaller  farm.  Now  let  us  see  how  these  farms  are 
equipped  by  the  various  superintendents  of  the  homes.  The  Alamance  farm 
of  eighty  acres,  valued  at  twelve  thousand,  was  stocked  with  one  mule,  two 
milk  cows,  four  hogs,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  hens.  Ashe  County's 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  is  equipped  by  the  superintendent. 
He  owns  two  horses,  five  milk  cows,  three  hogs,  and  thirty-five  hens.  We 
have  no  report  as  to  the  machinery  which  he  owns  for  working  the  farm. 
The  Anson  County  home  farm  of  two  hundred  and  fourteen  acres  is  equipped 
jointly  by  the  county  and  the  superintendent  of  the  home.  The  superin- 
tendent owns  two  mules,  one  cow,  three  hogs,  and  forty  hens.  The  county 
furnishes  one  cow  valued  at  thirty-five  dollars.  No  farm  machinery  was 
reported.  Whatever  is  used  is  owned  by  the  superintendent.  Johnston 
County's  county  home  farm  contains  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  only 
fifty  acres  of  which  are  in  cultivation.  "This  land,"  says  County  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Welfare  H.  V.  Rose,  "will  produce  a  bale  of  cotton  to  the 
acre,  or  twelve  hundred  pounds  of  bright  leaf  tobacco."  The  livestock  and 
farm  machinery  on  this  valuable  farm  are  owned  by  the  superintendent.  At 
the  time  of  the  survey  there  were  two  mules,  one  horse,  ten  hogs,  and  forty 
hens.  The  report  reads,  "No  cow  at  present."  There  had  been  none  for  a 
year,  or  at  least  no  milk  had  been  produced. 

As  would  be  expected  under  such  conditions,  the  per  acre  yield  from 
county  home  farms  is  very  small.  Six  thousand  acres  are  yielding  in  crops 
of  all  kinds,  including  vegetables,  fruits,  livestock,  milk,  butter,  eggs,  and 
meats,  a  gross  income  of  less  than  fifteen  dollars  per  acre.     Three  thousand 


Poor  Belief  in  ]^orth  Carolina  9 

acres  of  this  are  producing  less  than  ten  dollars  per  acre  per  year  gross 
return.  And  another  area  of  twenty-six  hundred  acres  is  yielding  annually 
less  than  five  dollars  per  acre. 

Looked  at  from  the  point  of  view  of  income  from  the  money  invested,  the 
showing  is  quite  as  poor.  In  the  cases  of  only  fifty-five  counties  do  we  have 
full  enough  reports  to  warrant  the  drawing  of  anything  like  definite  con- 
clusions along  this  line.  In  the  cases  of  these  fifty-five  nothing  more  than 
an  approximation  of  accuracy  may  be  claimed.  In  no  county  home  in  the 
State  is  there  a  system  of  account-keeping  that  would  enable  one  to  form 
even  an  intelligent  guess  as  to  the  financial  affairs  of  the  county  home  farm. 
The  law  requiring  such  account-keeping  is  ignored  for  the  simple  reason 
that  there  are  not  one  half  of  a  baker's  dozen  of  the  county  home  superin- 
tendents in  the  State  who  could  keep  the  simplest  set  of  books.  All  figures 
as  to  the  products  of  the  farm  are  estimated  by  the  superintendents  of  the 
homes.  But  while  there  are  doubtless  inaccuracies  in  the  figures  in  every 
case,  it  is  believed  that  they  approximate  the  truth  nearly  enough  to  be 
valuable.  According  to  these  figures  nine  county  home  farms  bring  to  the 
respective  counties  from  all  garden  and  farm  products,  including  feed-stuffs 
and  livestock  and  livestock  products,  a  gross  income  of  less  than  five  per 
cent.  Thirty-one  of  these  fifty-five  counties  produce  a  gross  income  of  not 
over  ten  per  cent.  Twenty-four  farms  make  a  showing  of  more  than  ten 
per  cent.  If  we  had  complete  figures  from  all  the  counties,  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  that  this  group  of  twenty-four  would  be  increased  in  number. 
There  is  no  way  of  getting  at  the  net  income. 

Idle  xlcres 

Seven  county  homes,  in  1922,  had  each  two  hundred  or  more  idle  acres. 
These  are:  Surry,  with  425  idle  acres;  Halifax,  340  acres;  New  Hanover, 
300  acres;  Rutherford,  300  acres;  Nash,  252  acres;  Orange,  250  acres;  and 
Rockingham,  200  acres.  Taking  the  average  value  per  acre  assigned  in  the 
reports  from  these  counties,  we  have  represented  by  these  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  idle  acres  a  total  unproductive  capital  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  thousand  dollars.  (Halifax  and  Nash  have  each  recently 
completed  new  county  homes,  on  new  and  smaller  farms.)  A  number  of 
other  counties  have  as  large  a  percentage  of  uncultivated  land,  bringing  the 
total  to  twelve  thousand  acres. 

These  figures,  incomplete  as  they  are,  show  that  farming  in  connection 
with  county  homes  in  North  Carolina  is  not  generally  profitable.  But  it 
would  be  a  matter  of  little  importance  whether  a  county  home  farm  pays,  if 
it  could  be  shown  that  the  farm  is  producing  in  as  great  abundance  as 
needed  those  foods  which  are  best  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  inmates  and 
which  may  best  be  had  in  desirable  abundance  and  quality  only  when  pro- 
duced at  home.  But  this  is  rarely  if  ever  true.  Very  rarely  is  there  an 
intelligent  effort  to  have  a  bountiful  supply  of  vegetables  for  as  nearly  all 
the  year  as  is  possible  in  that  particular  locality.  As  a  rule  the  raising  of 
vegetables  is  secondary  to  the  production  of  a  money  crop.  Recently  on  the 
county  home  farm  in  the  finest  trucking  section  of  the  State,  a  representative 
of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  found  no  early  vegetables 
and  no  adequate  provision  for  a  later  supply.  While  train-loads  of  early 
vegetables  were  being  shipped  from  the  immediate  neighborhood,  the  only 
vegetable  on  hand  for  use  in  the  institution  was  some  spinach  given  by  one 
of  the  county  commissioners.  Preparations  were  being  made  for  a  crop  of 
corn.  More  often,  as  has  already  been  said,  the  farming  is  done  in  such  a 
slipshod  way  that  neither  vegetables  nor  other  crops  are  a  success.  Usually 
the  superintendent  of  the  county  home  reports  that  he  produces  plenty  of 


10  Poor  Relief  in  I^orth  Carolusta 

vegetables,  but  in  most  cases  a  look  at  the  county  home  garden  is  proof  that 
he  does  not  appreciate  the  meaning  of  plenty  of  vegetables.  What  is  true 
of  vegetables  is  also  true  of  milk,  eggs,  and  meats.  An  adequate  supply  of 
milk  and  butter  is  as  unusual  as  an  adequate  supply  of  vegetables.  Very 
few  counties  make  any  provision  for  a  milk  supply.  This  is  true  also  of 
eggs.  Practically  the  only  kind  of  meat  produced  on  the  county  home  farm 
is  hog  meat.    A  few  of  the  homes  produce  a  considerable  supply  of  this. 

BUILDINGS 

County  homes  in  North  Carolina  still  include  every  type  and  condition  of 
building  from  wretched  shacks  and  log  cabins  to  creditable  and  even  elabo- 
rate and  expensive  plants.  The  Wake  County  Hospital,  as  the  county  home 
is  locally  called,  is  one  of  the  most  imposing  looking  buildings  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  State  Capitol.  The  Guilford  County  home  is  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous buildings  or  group  of  buildings  in  the  neighborhood  of  Greensboro. 
Nash  County  has  just  completed  a  county  home  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  Robeson  is  now  building  a  home  that  is  to  cost  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

Until  quite  recently  the  most  common  type  of  county  home  was  a  group 
of  two-room  cottages.  A  number  of  these  remain.  Usually  these  cottages 
are  of  wood — small  frame  buildings,  often  with  a  chimney  in  the  middle, 
providing  an  open  fireplace  in  each  of  the  two  rooms.  Occasionally  the  cot- 
tages are  of  brick.  More  rarely  we  find  a  county  home,  coming  down  from 
a  still  earlier  period,  with  log  cottages.  The  tendency,  as  has  been  sug- 
gested, is  away  from  the  two-room  cottage  type  of  institution.  The  newer 
home  consists  of  a  single  building,  or  a  group  of  connected  buildings,  usu- 
ally of  brick.  In  the  latest  of  these,  the  quarters  of  the  inmates  are  one- 
story. 

Thirty-nine  counties  each  have  buildings  alone  valued  at  $15,000  or  more, 
Twenty  each  have  buildings  worth  $40,000  or  more.  Three  other  counties 
are  now  constructing  buildings  to  cost  $75,000,  $114,000,  and  $175,000,  re- 
spectively. Since  1919,  twenty-five  counties — Alamance,  Burke,  Caldwell 
Chatham,  Cherokee,  Clay,  Durham,  Guilford,  Halifax,  Jackson,  Johnston 
Nash,  Northampton,  Onslow,  Person,  Polk,  Randolph,  Robeson,  Rowan 
Rutherford,  Stanly,  Vance,  Watauga,  Wayne,  and  Wilson— have  erected,  or 
now  have  in  process  of  erection,  new  county  homes.  With  three  excep 
tions — Cherokee,  Clay,  and  Polk — these  are  substantial  brick  structures  cost- 
ing from  $20,000  in  Watauga  to  $175,000  in  Robeson.  The  aggregate  cost 
of  these  new  buildings  has  been  $1,000,000.  Measured  in  terms  of  money 
invested,  or  in  terms  of  equipment  as  expressed  in  buildings,  progress  has 
been  made.  The  extent  of  that  progress  is  suggested  by  the  pictures  in 
another  section  of  this  bulletin.  Judged  by  any  standards  there  has  been 
progress.  But  in  too  many  cases  the  progress  has  been  more  apparent  than 
real.  Some  of  the  better  buildings  have  been  poorly  planned.  The  number 
that  show  evidences  of  having  been  planned  by  one  who  had  some  concep- 
tion of  the  problems  presented  by  the  county  home  is  increasing,  but  there 
are  still  too  many  of  the  other  class.  There  is  often  inadequate  provision 
for  the  segregation  of  the  sexes.  There  is  not  always  complete  segregation 
of  the  races.  In  the  newer  homes,  infirmary  wards  have  usually  been  pro- 
vided for  the  sick;  but  these  wards  are  usually  either  inadequately  fur- 
nished or  not  furnished  at  all.  Quite  frequently  they  are  not  used,  or  are 
used  as  other  rooms  for  the  housing  of  inmates. 

Of  the  eighty-five  homes  reporting  two  years  ago  on  lighting  systems, 
thirty-five   had    electric   lights;    two   had   gas;    forty   used    kerosene   lamps; 


PooE  Relief  in  J^oeth  Carolina  11 

five,  lanterns,  and  one,  candles.  Many  county  commissioners  living  in  the 
country  do  not  have  electric  lights.  Certainly  the  average  citizen  does  not 
have  this  convenience.  Commissioner,  grand  juror,  and  taxpayer  alike, 
therefore,  naturally  concludes  that  there  is  no  good  reason  for  taxing  the 
people  to  provide  these  luxuries  for  the  poor.  He  forgets  that  with  the 
scant  supervision  usually  provided  at  the  county  home,  the  kerosene  lamp 
endangers  not  only  the  property  of  the  county  but  the  lives  of  the  inmates. 
Within  the  last  few  months  the  building  for  colored  inmates  at  the  Lenoir 
County  home  was  burned  at  night  and  with  it  the  only  colored  inmate.  It 
is  surmised  that  this  inmate,  a  feeble  old  woman,  who  was  in  the  building 
alone,  attempted  to  light  her  lamp  and  accidentally  set  fire  to  the  building. 

A  large  number  of  the  homes,  including  some  of  those  with  substantial 
buildings,  are  poorly  furnished.  Often  the  furnishings  are  of  the  crudest 
sort.  A  cheap  bed — usually  a  double  bed — a  cheap  straight  chair  for  each 
inmate,  sometimes  a  table — these  are  the  typical  furnishings  of  a  room  in 
the  majority  of  our  county  homes.  Such  luxuries  as  closets,  bureaus,  chests, 
or  mirrors,  in  the  rooms  of  inmates,  are  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule. 

An  interesting  point  in  connection  with  the  building  of  new  county  homes 
is  the  number  that  have  been  relocated— brought  out  from  the  back  country 
to  the  main  highways  near  the  county-seats.  There  are  still  twenty-one 
homes,  however,  that  are  not  on  a  public  highway.  I  found  it  impossible 
in  1923  in  dry  weather  to  reach  one  of  these,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State,  in  a  Ford.  And  after  one  day's  rain  late  in  September,  1924,  I  was 
advised  not  to  attempt  to  reach  the  new  county  home  in  Burke  County. 

SUPERVISION 

Supervision  in  the  county  homes  in  North  Carolina  is  of  a  lower  type  even 
than  the  equipment.  It  has  not  yet  become  the  general  custom  to  pay  sal- 
aries that  will  attract  the  type  of  men  needed  for  the  difiicult  task  of  operat- 
ing a  county  home.  Thirty-seven  counties  pay  their  superintendent  of  the 
county  home  less  than  one  hundred  dollars  cash  per  month.  Nineteen  pay 
six  hundred  dollars  or  less  per  year.  Twenty  counties  sell  the  keeping  of 
the  county  home  to  the  lowest  bidder.  The  same  number  pay  a  stated 
amount  per  month  per  inmate.  In  addition  to  his  salary,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  however,  that  the  superintendent  gets  a  house  to  live  in  and,  usu- 
ally, board  for  himself  and  family.  In  the  eighty-three  counties  reporting 
on  this  item,  the  average  age  of  the  superintendent  is  forty-seven  years. 
In  many  cases  there  are  large  families  of  children.  These  are  usually  sup- 
ported by  the  county.  In  one  instance  the  county  was  supporting  seventeen 
members  of  the  superintendent's  family  in  addition  to  paying  eighteen  dol- 
lars per  month  per  inmate  for  sixteen  inmates.  He  had  a  house  and  a  hun- 
dred acres  of  cultivable  land  free  of  rent.  As  I  write,  a  county  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  tells  me  that  a  new  superintendent  of  the  county 
home  has  just  been  elected  in  his  county.  The  retiring  superintendent  has 
ten  children.  He  received  house  rent  and  food  for  his  family  in  addition  to 
his  salary  of  seventy-five  dollars  a  month.  A  cook  was  paid  twenty  dollars 
a  month.  Under  such  conditions  seventy-five  dollars  per  month  is  not  a 
salary  to  be  despised. 

About  twenty  counties  have  paid  matrons.  One  county  pays  its  county 
home  matron  $900  a  year;  three  pay  $600;  two  pay  $240;  the  others  of  the 
group  pay  less  than  $400.  More  often  the  wife  of  the  superintendent  serves 
as  matron  without  pay  in  her  own  name.  Not  infrequently  she  does  the 
cooking,  looks  after  the  inmates  and  the  house  work,  and  cares  for  several 
small  children  of  her  own.     This  may  be  the  chief  reason  for  the  type  of 


12  Poor  Relief  in  J^orth  Carolina 

superintendent  most  common  in  the  State.  Whatever  the  reason,  it  is  not 
unusual  to  find  a  superintendent  who  belongs  to  a  class  only  slightly  supe- 
rior to  a  majority  of  the  inmates.  He  is  rarely  in  the  class  with  the  other 
officials  of  the  county.  He  is  not  the  type  of  man  who  could  be  elected 
register  of  deeds  or  clerk  of  the  court.  There  are  a  few  exceptions,  but 
they  are  exceptions.  Two  instances  in  counties  in  widely  separated  sections 
of  the  State  illustrate  the  type  of  superintendent  and  matron  that  is  quite 
frequently  found.  In  a  county  in  which  the  tumble-down  shacks  called  the 
county  home  are  a  disgrace,  the  single  inmate,  an  old  half-crazy  negro  man, 
was  telling  the  visitor  about  the  fat  meat  he  had  to  eat.  The  keeper  flew 
into  a  rage  and  hotly  protested  that  he  did  not  buy  fat  meat,  but  "good 
shoulder  meat."  Two  representatives  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and 
Public  Welfare  were  visiting  another  county  home.  The  superintendent  was 
away.  His  wife  was  working  in  the  cotton  field.  After  a  while  she  came  in. 
She  was  barefooted.  Her  baby  was  nursing  as  she  walked  along,  and  her 
dress  was  thrown  open  from  the  neck  to  the  waist.  Her  mother,  her  mother's 
sister,  and  her  father's  brother  are  inmates  of  the  home.  She  is  matron 
without  salary.  In  our  survey  we  tried  to  secure  some  information  as  to  the 
education  of  superintendents.  Eighty  counties  gave  some  sort  of  informa- 
tion on  this  subject.  In  seventy-four  of  these  the  superintendent  had  less 
than  a  high  school  education.  Six  are  recorded  as  having  a  high  school 
education  or  more.  Since  then  the  only  superintendent  who  had  any  college 
training  has  been  removed  because  he  did  not  belong  to  the  same  political 
faction  as  the  county  commissioners.  A  large  number  of  these  superin- 
tendents are  practically  illiterate.  A  few  cannot  read  and  write.  Most  of 
the  superintendents  were  farmers  before  they  came  to  the  county  homes — 
sixty-nine  out  of  eighty  from  which  information  on  this  item  was  obtained. 
Thirty  of  these  were  tenant  farmers.  The  eleven  who  were  not  farmers 
came  from  various  occupations — merchant,  salesman,  carpenter,  mason, 
jailer,  policeman,  "moonshiner." 

Until  recently  there  has  been  but  little  supervision  over  the  superintend- 
ent. The  county  commissioners,  who,  since  the  Civil  War,  have  had  the 
general  oversight  of  poor  relief,  have  usually  contented  themselves  with 
employing  a  superintendent  every  two  years.  Sometimes  he  is  chosen  be- 
cause he  is  the  cheapest  man;  sometimes  because  he  has  been  of  service  to 
the  political  faction  in  power.  Sometimes  the  commissioners  are  genuinely 
interested;  but  they  are  usually  busy  men  giving  one  or  two  days  a  month 
to  the  affairs  of  the  county.  In  any  case,  the  county  home,  as  a  rule,  gets 
little  supervision  from  this  source.  Some  time  ago  a  representative  of  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  was  visiting  a  county  home. 
It  was  his  first  visit.  Some  other  gentlemen  were  also  visiting  the  institu- 
tion that  day  for  the  first  time.  They  were  members  of  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  of  the  county.  The  wife  of  the  superintendent,  who  had  been 
matron  of  the  institution  for  five  years,  did  not  know  at  sight  the  members 
of  the  board  under  whom  she  had  been  serving. 

Since  1919,  the  law  has  provided  that  the  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare  shall  "have,  under  the  control  of  the  county  commissioners,  the  care 
and  supervision  of  the  poor,  and  administer  the  poor  funds."  This  law  seems 
to  have  been  variously  interpreted  by  various  boards  of  county  commis- 
sioners. A  few  boards,  even  in  counties  that  have  full-time  superintendents 
of  public  welfare,  are  apparently  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  this  law.  In 
the  larger  number  of  these  counties,  however,  all  new  cases  of  relief  are 
referred  to  the  superintendent  of  public  welfare  for  investigation  and  recom- 
mendation.    The  number  of  counties  in  this  group  is  constantly  increasing. 


Poor  Relief  in  North  Carolina  13 

In  a  few  counties  the  superintendent  of  public  welfare  has  the  actual  admin- 
istration of  the  poor  funds,  the  commissioners  retaining  only  general  over- 
sight. 

Some  Notable  Instances 

In  a  few  instances  the  results  of  turning  the  active  supervision  of  the 
county  home  over  to  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  have  been 
notable.  In  Avery  County,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  November  30,  1921,  the 
county  treasurer  paid  for  the  maintenance  of  the  county  home,  exclusive  of 
money  listed  as  spent  for  additional  land  and  for  farm  machinery,  $594.91 
per  inmate  per  year,  or  $49.57  per  month.  This  home  consisted  of  a  very 
cheap  wooden  building  without  any  modern  conveniences.  It  was  wretchedly 
kept.  Mrs.  Lillian  Edmonson,  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  was  told 
to  try  her  hand.  Mrs.  Edmonson  became  the  real  superintendent.  She 
bought  the  supplies,  and  supervised  the  management  of  the  home.  The  work 
at  the  home  was  done  by  a  woman  whom  Mrs.  Edmonson  took  from  the 
county  jail  where  she  was  serving  a  sentence  for  violation  of  the  prohibition 
law.  The  institution  was  made  as  sanitary  as  possible  with  the  equipment. 
The  cost  for  1922  was  $206.45  per  capita,  or  $17.20  per  month.  But  Mrs. 
Edmonson  was  not  satisfied  with  even  this  showing.  Watauga  County  has 
a  comfortable  brick  county  home  with  more  room  than  is  needed  for  the 
poor  of  that  county.  Upon  the  superintendent  of  public  welfare's  recom- 
mendation, arrangements  were  made  to  transfer  Avery's  poor  to  the  Watauga 
County  home  April  1,  1923.  For  this  year,  three  months  in  the  Avery  County 
home  and  nine  months  in  the  Watauga  County  home,  the  cost  was  $116.10 
per  capita  per  year,  or  $9.67  per  month.  The  care  that  these  people  are 
receiving  in  the  Watauga  County  home  is  not  ideal,  but  it  is  better  than  the 
care  they  were  receiving  in  the  Avery  County  home  before  Mrs.  Edmonson 
took  charge.     The  cost  for  1923  was  less  than  one-fifth  the  cost  for  1921. 

In  Vance  County  the  results  have  been  even  more  notable.  Here  the 
county  owned  some  wooden  buildings  situated  on  a  farm  a  few  miles  from 
the  county-seat.  The  institution  was  poorly  kept.  In  1921  Mrs.  W.  B. 
Waddill  was  elected  superintendent  of  public  welfare.  She  took  stock  of 
the  welfare  problems  of  the  county.  One  of  the  immediate  needs  was  some 
way  to  care  for  the  inmates  of  the  county  home.  The  county  commissioners 
agreed  that  something  must  be  done.  The  superintendent  consulted  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  as  to  the  advisability  of  building  a 
new  county  home,  or  county  hospital  as  she  conceived  it,  on  a  smaller  piece 
of  land  near  the  county-seat.  The  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Institutional 
Supervision  was  dreaming  of  district  hospital  homes  for  the  care  of  the 
aged  and  infirm,  so  she  got  but  little  encouragement.  She  went  on,  however. 
An  attractive  but  inexpensive  building  of  brick  was  planned  and  built.  It 
was  attractively  furnished  under  the  supervision  of  the  superintendent  of 
public  welfare.  During  the  months  while  the  new  home  was  under  con- 
struction she  was  skillfully  preparing  the  inmates  for  the  change.  They 
were  led  to  look  forward  to  moving  into  the  new  home  as  an  event  in  their 
lives.  Finally  the  day  came.  Each  inmate  was  moved  to  his  or  her  own 
small  room,  or  in  the  case  of  one  or  two  old  couples  into  a  suite  of  two  small 
rooms.  One  old  negro  man,  who,  according  to  his  own  account,  is  "goin'  on 
more  than  a  hundred"  years  old,  had  his  first  experience  with  a  bath  tub  and 
enjoyed  it  so  much  that  he  did  not  want  to  get  out.  A  low-grade,  feeble- 
minded negro  woman,  whose  room  at  the  old  home  had  always  been  filthy 
as  a  pig  pen,  was  given  instruction  in  caring  for  her  new  room  (for  in  this 
new  type  of  county  home,  where  each  inmate  has  his  own  room,  the  inmate 
is  led  to  feel  a  responsibility  for  that  room  and  to  take  pride  in  keeping  it 


14  Poor  Relief  in  N^orth  Carolina 

in  order).  This  woman  has  rarely  forgotten  to  make  her  bed,  clean  up  her 
room,  and  raise  her  windows  before  leaving  the  room  in  the  morning.  The 
writer  recently  visited  this  home  without  warning  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  inmates  were  just  finishing  breakfast.  With  the  exception  of  one 
room,  occupied  by  a  very  old  inmate  who  had  remained  late  in  bed,  the  beds 
were  already  made  and  the  rooms  in  order,  this  work  having  been  done, 
practically  without  supervision,  by  the  inmates.  Every  inmate  was  eager 
that  his  or  her  room  should  be  seen.  One  negro  man,  partially  paralyzed, 
stood  in  his  door  pathetically  anxious  lest  his  room  should  be  overlooked. 

The  old  county  home,  without  any  of  the  modern  conveniences,  cost  the 
county  for  maintenance,  in  addition  to  any  products  of  the  farm  used  in  the 
institution,  five  thousand  dollars  a  year.  The  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare estimates  the  cost  for  maintenance  for  the  first  year  in  the  new  home, 
with  its  individual  rooms,  its  attractive  living  rooms,  one  for  each  race,  its 
commodious  kitchen  and  dining  rooms,  with  all  modern  conveniences,  at 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  or  one-half  the  cost  of  the  old  home. 

There  are  counties,  too,  where  the  county  commissioners  have  secured 
competent  supervision  directly  through  the  superintendent  of  the  county 
home. 

A  third  case  of  a  county  that  has  recognized  the  importance  of  intelligent 
supervision  for  its  county  home  is  Chatham.  This  county  until  recently  did 
not  have  a  separate  superintendent  of  public  welfare.  Two  years  ago,  when 
the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  asked  for  a  detailed  report 
on  the  county  home,  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  who  was  also 
superintendent  of  public  welfare,  objected  to  making  such  a  report,  on  the 
ground  that  he  did  not  want  it  known  how  bad  conditions  were.  He  added 
that  there  was  then  under  construction  a  home  of  which  the  county  would 
not  be  ashamed.  When  this  home  was  completed  the  commissioners  em- 
ployed as  superintendent  a  man  who  had  served  as  register  of  deeds  for  the 
county  and  whose  wife  also  is  superior  to  the  average  county  home  matron. 
The  result  is  that  this  poor  rural  county  has  one  of  the  most  attractive 
county  homes  in  the  State. 

In  two  of  these  counties  the  credit  for  the  improvements  is  due  primarily 
to  the  superintendent  of  public  welfare.  In  the  third  it  is  due  to  the  wisdom 
of  the  county  commissioners  in  choosing  a  superintendent  for  the  new  county 
home.  In  the  last  case  that  I  shall  cite,  also,  the  county  commissioners  may 
with  some  right  claim  the  credit;  but  the  most  that  may  be  said  in  this 
instance  is  that  succeeding  boards  of  commissioners  through  many  years 
have  had  the  wisdom  not  to  change  the  superintendent  at  the  county  home. 
For  thirty-seven  years  the  present  superintendent  has  been  in  charge.  The 
home  is  composed  of  a  group  of  two-room  cottages  arranged  around  a  quad- 
rangle. There  is  a  larger  cottage  for  the  superintendent.  The  buildings  are 
neatly  painted,  and  the  whole  presents  an  attractive  appearance.  But  such 
necessities  as  running  water  and  a  sewerage  system  are  absent.  The  super- 
intendent is  allowed  to  believe  that  the  county  is  too  poor  to  spend  the  few 
hundred  dollars  needed  to  relieve  her  of  useless  drudgery.  But  in  spite  of 
these  handicaps  Mrs.  Williams  has  made  the  Craven  County  home  one  of  the 
most  homelike  and  attractive  in  the  State. 

Methods  of  Discipline  Vary 

Methods  of  discipline  in  county  homes  vary  as  widely  as  the  types  of  in- 
stitutions. There  are  institutions  in  connection  with  which  one  does  not 
even  associate  the  word  discipline.  They  are  in  fact  homes  for  the  aged  and 
infirm.     There  are  others  which  in  this  respect  do  not  differ  materially  from 


PooK  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina  15 

the  old-fashioned  workhouse.  The  board  of  commissioners  of  two  counties 
in  North  Carolina  have  enacted  and  had  printed  rules  for  the  govern- 
ment of  their  county  homes.  Those  of  one  of  these  are  especially  interest- 
ing. They  are  twelve  in  number.  These  rules  provide  for  confinement  in 
cells  for  a  number  of  minor  offenses.  For  each  additional  offense  the  punish- 
ment is  to  be  doubled.     Two  of  the  rules  are  as  follows: 

"Second  Rule:  None  of  the  inmates  will  be  allowed  to  leave  the  institu- 
tion without  permission  of  the  superintendent  or  matron,  and  any  inmate 
violating  this  rule  shall  be  confined  in  a  cell  not  to  exceed  one  week  for  the 
first  offense,  and  each  additional  offense  the  punishment  to  be  doubled." 

"Twelfth   Rule:   Any   inmate   that   takes,   conceals   or   disposes   of   in    any 

manner  anything  that  belongs  to  the  County  home,  shall  be 

punished  by  confinement  in  the  cells  for  thirty  days,  and  for  each  additional 
offense  the  punishment  shall  be  doubled." 

In  our  1922  survey  twenty-six  of  the  inmates  of  this  institution,  including 
three  children  under  sixteen  years  old,  are  reported  feeble-minded.  Eleven 
are  insane.  There  are  no  physical  examinations,  and,  therefore,  no  basis 
for  determining  to  what  extent  they  are  otherwise  diseased.  Sixty  of  the 
sixty-eight  inmates,  however,  were  reported  as  unable  to  do  any  work.  These 
people  are  punished  by  imprisonment,  under  laws  enacted  by  the  county 
commissioners,  for  offenses  ranging  from  disobeying  the  orders  of  the  super- 
intendent to  larceny.  For  the  purpose  of  enforcing  these  laws  the  super- 
intendent is  judge,  jury,  and  jailer. 

For  the  purpose  of  discipline,  the  main  building  for  white  inmates  has 
eight  or  ten  punishment  rooms — that  is  rooms  with  the  upper  half  of  the 
door  barred  to  make  it  resemble  a  jail.  In  addition  there  are  two  separate 
buildings  with  steel  cells,  one  for  the  white  and  one  for  the  negroes.  These 
are  used  both  for  the  insane  and  for  punishment. 

On  the  occasion  of  a  recent  visit  I  found  a  negro  woman  in  one  of  the 
cells.  This  woman  has  "falling  spells."  It  is  her  duty  to  milk  the  cows. 
One  rainy  evening  she  decided  to  defer  the  milking  until  the  next  morning. 
For  this  offense  she  was  sentenced  by  the  assistant  superintendent,  also  a 
negro,  to  one  week  in  jail. 

A  few  counties  maintain  workhouses  in  connection  with  their  county 
homes.  To  a  number  of  others,  prisoners,  especially  women,  are  frequently 
sent.  The  presence  of  prisoners  at  the  county  home  greatly  complicates  the 
problem  of  supervision.  This  is  especially  true  when  there  are  young  feeble- 
minded women  among  the  inmates. 

SAMTATIOX 

Two  years  ago  eleven  county  homes  reported  complete  modern  conve- 
niences for  all  inmates — hot  and  cold  running  water,  adequate  bathing  facili- 
ties, steam  heat,  electric  lights  and  sewerage,  including  separate  toilets  for 
the  different  races  and  sexes.  The  new  homes  completed  within  the  last 
two  years  add  nine  counties  to  the  list.  Three  others  now  in  process  of 
construction  double  the  number  reported  in  1922. 

Taking  separately  several  items  that  contribute  to  sanitary  conditions,  we 
have  twenty-four  institutions  reporting  steam  heat;  forty-five,  stoves,  and 
the  remainder  open  fireplaces.  Of  eighty-seven  counties  reporting  on  the 
existence  or  nonexistence  of  bath  tubs,  thirty-four  had  one  or  more;  fifty- 
three  had  none;  twenty-nine  used  galvanized  wash  tubs;  six  had  no  facili- 
ties. This  statement  must  be  modified  by  the  evidence  that  some  of  the 
county  homes  having  bath  tubs  do  not  use  them  for  the  purpose  of  bathing. 
In  one  small  new  county  home  a  representative  of  the  State  Board  of  Chari- 
ties and  Public  Welfare  found  each  of  the  two  bath  tubs  partially  filled  with 


16  Poor  Relief  in  ^North  Carolina 

straw  to  give  the  hens  a  place  to  nest.  He  does  not  believe  that  the  hens 
were  often  disturbed  in  order  to  give  the  inmates  a  chance  to  take  a  bath. 
In  another  county  the  superintendent,  in  reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  fre- 
quency of  baths,  said:  "Don't  take  'em.  Make  'em  clean  up  about  every  two 
weeks — change  clothes  and  bed."  In  a  third  home,  it  is  reported,  the  in- 
mates refuse  to  make  use  of  the  bath  tubs,  preferring  "local  applications." 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  of  the  eighty-one  counties  reporting  on 
this  item,  only  about  one-half — forty-three — say  that  the  inmates  are  clean 
of  person  and  dress.  Only  twenty-one  out  of  seventy-nine  reporting  had  one 
or  more  living  rooms  for  the  use  of  the  inmates.  Thirty-five  out  of  seventy- 
five  did  not  have  window  space  sufficient  to  give  the  amount  of  light  desirable 
in  the  rooms  used  by  inmates.  Thirty-four  counties,  two  years  ago,  reported 
modern  sewerage  systems.  Eighteen  others  had  sanitary  privies.  Thirty 
had  open  closets.     Three  reported  "no  facilities." 

The  source  of  water  supply  is  reported  as  follows:  open  wells,  twenty- 
nine;  springs,  eighteen;  pumps,  fourteen;  deep  wells,  twenty;  and  mains 
from  city  systems,  four.  A  total  of  forty-seven  counties  use  either  open 
wells  or,  for  institutional  use,  the  almost  equally  dangerous  spring.  One 
county  home  superintendent  in  a  county  in  the  northeastern  section  of  the 
State  told  the  writer  proudly  that  he  had  fine  water — he  had  never  seen  any 
"wiggle-tails"  in  it. 

The  kitchen  and  dining-room  of  the  average  county  home  are  the  least 
attractive  places  about  it.  They  are  poorly  furnished  and  often  inadequately 
screened.  There  are  several  county  homes  in  the  State,  of  course,  which  are 
exceptions  to  this.  Usually  the  superintendent's  wife  has  been  accustomed 
only  to  the  most  primitive  mode  of  living,  and  is  helpless  when  confronted 
with  the  problems  of  an  institution.  Frequently  dirty  and  diseased  inmates 
help  with  the  work  in  the  kitchen  and  dining-room.  In  one  county  home  in 
the  State  a  filthy-looking,  old  insane  woman  continually  potters  about  the 
flour  bin.  Few  county  home  kitchens  or  dining-rooms  are  free  from  flies. 
Often  they  are  present  in  swarms.  In  other  parts  of  the  home,  also,  there  is 
often  lack  of  cleanliness.  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  man  who  is  responsible 
for  the  disinfectant  of  the  sort  commonly  used  in  jails  and  county  homes 
should  be  shut  up  in  one  of  the  former  for  life.  To  go  about  squirting  vile- 
smelling  stuff  out  of  a  "gun"  appeals  strongly  to  many  county  home  superin- 
tendents, as  it  does  also  to  the  average  jailer.  It  is  a  poor  substitute  for  soap 
and  water;  but  it  is  more  easily  applied,  and  it  is  not  yet  so  definitely  asso- 
ciated mentally  with  labor.  It  is  not  particularly  surprising  that  twenty- 
eight  homes  report  the  presence  of  bed-bugs.  Recently  when  a  progressive 
board  of  county  commissioners  in  one  of  the  largest  counties  of  the  State 
decided  to  renovate  the  county  home,  a  painter  employed  on  the  job  reported 
that  occasionally  when  he  started  to  paint  over  a  particularly  dark  place  on 
the  wall,  the  dark  place  began  immediately  to  scatter  in  all  directions. 

On  a  slight  eminence  overlooking  a  beautiful  river  valley,  with  mountains 
in  the  background,  stands  an  attractive  brick  building  that  cost  several  tens 
of  thousands  of  dollars,  the  county  home  in  one  of  the  best  of  the  mountain 
counties.  "You  will  want  a  picture  of  this  for  your  bulletin,"  said  my  com- 
panion as  we  stopped  in  front  of  the  institution  one  afternoon  in  September, 
1924.  We  entered.  He  may  still  think  a  picture  should  appear  in  this  bulle- 
tin, but  for  a  somewhat  different  reason.  There  was  little  evidence  of  intelli- 
gent care  anywhere  within,  but  the  climax  was  reached  in  a  room  whose 
walls  were  covered  with  finger  prints — hundreds  and  hundreds  of  them. 
"What  caused  these?"  asked  my  friend.  "That's  where  he's  killed  chinches," 
replied  the  son  of  the  superintendent,  indicating  by  a  nod  of  the  head  the 
old  man  who  occupies  the  room. 


Poor  Relief  in  North  Carolina  17 

INMATES 

There  are  in  round  numbers  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  people  in  county 
homes  in  North  Carolina.  These  are  distributed  among  ninety  county  homes. 
Ten  counties  do  not  at  present  maintain  county  homes.  These  are  Avery, 
which  maintains  its  indoor  poor  in  the  Watauga  County  home;  Bladen, 
which  has  a  home  not  occupied;  Dare,  which  also  has  a  home  not  operated; 
Graham;  Hoke;  Jones;  Onslow,  which  is  now  building  a  home;  Pender, 
whose  last  inmate  was  transferred  to  the  Soldiers'  Home  a  year  ago;  Polk, 
whose  home  was  not  occupied  at  the  last  report;  and  Tyrrell,  whose  home 
is  not  operated.  Polk  had  a  peculiar  experience.  In  1922  this  county  opened 
a  new  county  home.  Within  a  year  all  of  the  inmates  died.  Twenty-six 
counties  have  fewer  than  ten  inmates  each  in  their  respective  county  homes. 
Seventy-one  have  fewer  than  twenty-five.  Nine  have  forty  or  more.  One, 
Wake,  has  more  than  one  hundred.  The  reports  to  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  and  to  the  reorganized  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Wel- 
fare, which  are  fairly  continuous  since  1891,  show  that  there  has  been  but 
little  increase  in  the  number  of  inmates  in  county  homes  within  thirty 
years.  The  actual  numbers  have  increased  since  1891  in  twenty-six  counties. 
In  fifty-three  counties  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  actual  numbers  for  the 
period  of  thirty-two  years.  In  ten  other  counties  there  has  been  a  decrease 
for  several  years.  Considered  in  relation  to  the  whole  population  of  the 
county,  the  figures  are  still  more  interesting.  Thirteen  of  the  twenty-six 
counties  in  which  there  were  increases  in  numbers  are  eliminated.  The 
number  of  inmates  of  county  homes  per  thousand  population  has  increased 
within  the  last  thirty  years  in  only  thirteen  of  the  counties.  And  in  two  of 
these  thirteen  the  ratio  has  decreased  within  the  last  twenty  years. 

This  general  decrease  in  the  ratio  of  indoor  poor  is  due  largely  to  the 
elimination  of  certain  classes  of  persons  who  were  formerly  sent  to  the  poor- 
house  in  large  numbers,  or  to  progress  toward  such  elimination.  Children 
were  formerly  found  in  county  homes  in  rather  large  numbers.  The  develop- 
ment of  orphanages  and  of  the  North  Carolina  Children's  Home  Society  have 
taken  most  of  the  children.  The  hospitals  for  the  insane  are  caring  for  a 
large  part  of  the  insane.  Caswell  Training  School  has  relieved  the  counties 
of  the  care  of  some  of  the  feeble-minded.  In  many  of  the  counties  social 
investigation  is  taking  the  place  of  political  expediency  in  the  admission  of 
inmates. 

These  facts  should  be  carefully  studied  by  counties  contemplating  the 
building  of  new  county  homes — especially  by  small  counties.  Only  three 
counties  in  the  State — Graham,  Hoke,  and  Jones — have  no  county  homes. 
Jones  once  had  some  provision  for  caring  for  indoor  poor.  Thirty-three 
counties  have  some  sort  of  county  homes  that  have  fewer  than  ten  inmates. 
Seven  have  none.  There  is  little  reason  to  believe  that  there  will  be  a  large 
increase.  There  may  be  a  number  of  people  in  many  of  these  counties  that 
should  be  in  the  county  homes.  On  the  other  hand,  as  the  plan  of  public 
welfare  develops,  as  local  social  workers  develop  the  technique  of  poor-relief 
work,  and  as  the  State  provides  for  a  larger  percentage  of  the  insane  and 
feeble-minded,  the  ratio  of  inmates  of  county  homes  to  the  whole  population 
should  continue  to  decrease. 

But  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  progress  has  been  made  toward  elimi- 
nating certain  classes  from  the  county  homes,  these  institutions  still  give 
shelter  to  a  varied  group,  the  majority  of  whom  are  not  merely  aged  and 
Infirm. 


18  Poor  Relief  in  ^oeth  Carolina 

Feeble-minded  and  Mentally  Diseased 

In  the  survey  made  two  years  ago  superintendents  of  public  welfare  re- 
ported 663  cases  of  feeble-mindedness  among  the  inmates  of  eighty-one  of  the 
county  homes  in  the  State.  Investigations  by  Dr.  Harry  W.  Crane,  Director 
of  the  Bureau  of  Mental  Hygiene  and  Health  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  Public  Welfare,  indicate  that  these  figures  are  approximately  correct 
as  to  definitely  recognizable  feeble-mindedness.  Dr.  Crane  examined  all  the 
white  inmates  in  seven  county  homes  and  twenty-eight  white  inmates  in 
another  county  home.  These  county  homes  were  selected  in  every  section 
of  the  State.  In  the  case  of  feeble-mindedness,  definitely  recognizable  as 
such,  the  examinations  showed  about  ten  per  cent  more  than  reported  by  the 
superintendents.  So  there  are  perhaps  approximately  seven  hundred  feeble- 
minded inmates,  who  may  be  definitely  classified  as  such,  in  the  county  homes 
of  the  State.  One  hundred  and  seventeen  insane  persons  were  in  the  county 
homes  in  eighty-one  counties,  according  to  the  reports  on  this  item.  But  in 
the  seven  county  homes  studied  by  him.  Dr.  Crane  found  two  and  one-half 
times  as  many  insane  as  indicated  in  the  reports.  If  this  ratio  holds  for 
the  State,  there  are  more  than  three  hundred  insane  in  county  homes  in  the 
State.  Of  these,  fifty-five  were  forcibly  confined  in  their  rooms  or  in  cells. 
Sixty-four  cases  of  epilepsy  were  reported.  Five  of  the  epileptics  were 
forcibly  confined.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  tested  by  Dr.  Crane, 
two  were  epileptics;  one  was  a  drug  addict;  eighteen  showed  some  abnormal 
mental  condition,  but  the  form  of  abnormality  was  not  determined;  and 
fifteen,  for  one  reason  or  another,  could  not  be  tested.  Only  five  of  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  were  adjudged  normal  mentally.  We  believe  that 
it  is  a  conservative  estimate  to  say  that  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  inmates 
of  the  county  homes  of  the  State  are  mentally  abnormal. 

Of  the  feeble-minded  reported,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  were  women 
of  child-bearing  age. 

Children  in  County  Homes 

Forty-six  counties  reported  having  no  children  as  inmates.  The  remaining 
thirty-nine  counties  reported  a  total  of  seventy-nine  children  under  sixteen 
years  of  age.  The  ages  of  fifty-one  of  these  children  were  given.  Twenty- 
seven,  or  53  per  cent,  ranged  in  age  from  one  year  or  less  to  five  years. 
Sixteen,  or  31  per  cent,  were  between  the  school  ages  of  six  and  eleven;  and 
eight,  or  16  per  cent,  were  between  the  adolescent  ages  of  twelve  and  fifteen 
years.  Of  the  seventy-nine  children  reported,  thirty-seven,  or  about  half, 
were  adjudged  by  those  making  the  report  to  be  definitely  feeble-minded; 
and  some  of  the  children,  too  small  as  yet  to  be  classified  in  regard  to  mental 
status,  are  the  children  of  feeble-minded  mothers  and,  therefore,  probably 
feeble-minded  themselves. 

In  addition  to  the  seventy-nine  children  reported  as  inmates,  three  coun- 
ties reported  a  total  of  eight  boys  serving  sentences  at  the  county  homes  as 
juvenile  delinquents. 

Forty-two  children  were  reported  as  having  been  born  in  the  coi^nty  homes, 
some  now  being  inmates,  and  some  having  died  or  been  taken  away  from 
the  homes  and  been  put  in  other  institutions  or  otherwise  cared  for.  Of 
these  forty-two  births,  thirty-four  were  reported  as  illegitimate.  In  nine 
cases  of  illegitimate  children,  it  was  reported  that  conception  took  place 
while  the  mother  was  at  the  county  home,  and  in  two  instances  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  former  superintendent  of  the  home  was  the  father  of  the 
child. 

Fifty-nine  married  couples  were  reported;   267  widows,  and  180  widowers. 


Poor  Relief  in  N^orth  Carolina  19 


FOOD 

There  is  usually,  we  believe,  an  honest  effort  to  furnish  to  inmates  of 
county  homes  a  sufficient  quantity  of  such  food  as  the  wife  of  the  superin- 
tendent knows  how  to  prepare  or  has  been  accustomed  to  herself.  This  does 
not  mean  that  inmates  of  all  county  homes  are  properly  fed.  In  many  of  the 
homes  they  are  not.  Vegetables,  as  has  been  observed  elsewhere,  are  not 
supplied  as  constantly  or  in  as  great  variety  as  is  desirable  or  practical. 
The  county  home  farm  produces  practically  no  meat,  except  hog  meat  that 
is  produced  on  a  considerable  number,  but  a  decided  majority  of  the  county 
home  farms  and  the  average  county  home  table  know  no  other,  except  on 
rare  occasions.  "Wouldn't  it  be  possible  for  us  to  have  just  a  bit  of  red 
meat  once  in  a  while?"  begged  an  intelligent  negro  girl,  in  an  advanced  stage 
of  tuberculosis,  of  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners  in  a 
certain  county.  This  county  home  farm  contains  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  acres.  The  county  has  no  livestock  on  this  land.  No  provision  has  been 
made  by  the  county  to  insure  a  supply  of  milk  or  of  eggs.  There  is  not  an 
adequate  supply  of  either.  "The  inmates  of  our  county  home  are  as  well 
fed  as  the  average  family  in  the  county,"  declared  a  member  of  a  board  of 
county  commissioners.  I  had  been  at  his  county  home  that  morning  at 
breakfast.  The  inmates  had  two  slices  of  fat  bacon  fried,  one  spoonful  of 
molasses,  and  three  biscuits  each.  I  suppose  there  must  have  been  coffee, 
but  I  cannot  remember  it.  This  is  in  the  finest  diversified  farming  section 
in  North  Carolina. 

MEDICAL   CARE   OF  INMATES 

Most  of  the  counties  have  failed  to  make  provision  for  anything  approach- 
ing adequate  medical  attention  for  the  inmates  of  their  county  homes.  Our 
survey  showed  more  than  four  hundred,  or  approximately  one-fourth  of  the 
entire  number,  sick.  A  much  larger  number  doubtless  need  medical  atten- 
tion. Many  should  be  in  regular  medical  hospitals.  Paralysis,  tuberculosis, 
gonorrhea,  syphilis,  and  cancer  are  among  the  more  serious  ailments  re- 
ported. Forty-one  of  eighty-three  counties  reporting  on  this  item  say  that 
the  doctor  comes  only  when  called.  In  forty-two  he  is  supposed  to  make 
regular  visits  as  well.  In  fifteen  he  comes  less  often  than  once  a  week;  in 
twenty-one,  once  a  week;  and  in  five  more  often  than  once  a  week.  Thirty- 
three  counties  report  physical  examination  before  admission.  But  examina- 
tions are  often  of  the  most  perfunctory  sort.  Superintendents  of  county 
homes  with  little  supervision  buy  and  administer  large  quantities  of  drugs 
and  nostrums.  In  several  counties  the  bills  for  drugs  assume  astonishing 
proportions. 

Usually  there  are  no  special  facilities  for  the  care  of  the  sick.  Very  few 
of  the  homes  have  even  a  practical  nurse.  Hospital  wards,  equipped  as  such, 
are  almost  nonexistent.  In  the  majority  of  the  homes  it  is  not  possible  ade- 
quately to  segregate  the  sick  from  the  well.  There  are  cases  of  horrible 
neglect  and  of  brutally  crude  methods  of  treatment.  Usually  the  superin- 
tendent, or  more  often  his  wife,  gives  the  sick  such  attention  as  he  or  she 
knows  how  to  give,  and  as  a  multitude  of  other  duties  will  permit. 

Eighty-one  counties  made  some  report  regarding  the  health  of  the  in- 
mates. Four  hundred  and  thirty-three  inmates  were  reported  as  able  to  do 
some  work;  441  inmates  as  being  chronically  sick;  39  as  having  tuberculosis; 
47  as  suffering  from  venereal  disease;  20  as  wholly  paralyzed  and  132  as 
being  partially  paralyzed;  24  as  suffering  from  cancer;  96  as  partially  or 
totally  blind;  7  as  deaf;  and  33  as  both  deaf  and  dumb. 


20  Poor  Relief  in  N^orth  Carolina 

In  forty-six  counties  the  statements  regarding  physical  diseases  or  defects 
were  reported  as  based  on  the  diagnosis  of  a  reputable  physician;  in  twenty- 
five  cases  as  simply  the  opinion  of  those  in  charge  of  the  homes  or  of  the 
county  superintendent  of  public  welfare;  fourteen  reports  did  not  state 
whether  or  not  the  answers  were  based  on  a  physician's  diagnosis.  In  six 
reports  there  was  a  question  mark  after  the  figures  reporting  tuberculosis; 
in  seven  reports  there  was  a  question  mark  after  the  figures  given  on  ve- 
nereal disease;  and  in  some  no  figures  were  given  at  all  in  regard  to  these 
diseases,  simply  a  question  mark. 

RECORDS 

Section  1337,  Consolidated  Statutes,  reads:  "The  keeper  or  superintendent 
in  charge  of  each  county  home  in  North  Carolina,  or  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  in  each  county  where  there  is  no  county  home,  shall  keep  a 
record  book  showing  the  following:  Name,  age,  sex,  and  race  of  each  in- 
mate; date  of  entrance  or  discharge;  mental  and  physical  condition;  cause 
of  admission;  family  relation  and  condition;  date  of  death  if  in  the  home; 
cost  of  supplies  and  per  capita  expense  per  month;  amount  of  crops  and 
value,  and  such  other  information  as  may  be  required  by  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  or  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare.  Such 
report  to  be  filed  annually  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  of  December  of 
each  year." 

No  county  in  the  State  is  keeping  this  record.  Most  of  the  county  homes 
have  some  sort  of  record  of  the  inmates,  usually  giving  the  name,  the  date 
of  admission,  and  of  discharge  or  death.  A  few  counties  have  somewhat 
fuller  records.  Some  have  no  records.  No  county,  we  believe,  keeps  a  per 
capita  cost  account  record,  or  a  record  of  the  amount  and  value  of  crops. 
Figures  as  to  crops  and  crop  values  given  in  this  report  are  mainly  esti- 
mates by  the  superintendent.  In  cases  where  the  superintendent  was  changed 
at  the  end  of  the  preceding  year  and  in  some  others  it  has  been  impossible 
to  get  any  sort  of  figures.  In  making  statements  as  to  the  cost  of  county 
homes,  county  officials  commonly  ignore  the  value  of  farm  products  used 
in  the  county  home.  In  an  audit  recently  made  for  Orange  County  by  a 
State  auditor  the  products  of  the  county  home  farm  do  not  appear. 

DISTRICT   HOSPITAL-HOMES 

The  number  of  inmates  in  many  county  homes  is  so  small  that  it  is  not 
economical  to  maintain  them  in  well-kept,  modernly-equipped  county  homes. 
The  ratio  of  paupers  in  proportion  to  the  whole  population  is  decreasing. 
The  classes  of  inmates  are  such  as  to  require  a  type  of  institution  widely 
different  from  the  old  type  of  county  home  and  a  type  of  supervision  greatly 
superior  to  the  present  type.  The  average  county  does  not  feel  able  to  main- 
tain an  institution  of  the  type  needed.  Many  boards  of  county  commissioners 
would  not  dare  attempt  to  maintain  a  home  of  the  type  suggested  in  this 
bulletin — an  institution  that  provides  for  the  proper  segregation  of  races 
and  sexes;  for  the  segregation  of  the  various  types  of  infectious  diseases, 
and  for  adequate  facilities  for  the  care  and  treatment  of  the  sick.  In  such  a 
home  there  would  be  a  superintendent  who  in  general  ability  and  intelligence 
would  be  the  equal  of  the  best  of  the  courthouse  officials.  There  would  be  a 
matron  of  the  same  high  type,  paid,  of  course,  for  her  whole  time.  There 
would  be  one  or  more  practical  nurses.  There  would  be  a  paid  cook  and  such 
other  helpers  as  might  be  necessary.  There  would  be  thorough  medical  at- 
tention  and   supervision   by   the    county   physician.      This   I   believe   is    the 


Poor  Relief  in  ^oeth  Carolina  21 

minimum.  Three-fourths  of  the  counties  do  not  have  enough  paupers  to 
warrant  the  maintenance  of  such  a  home.  Three-fourths  of  the  remaining 
fourth  think  they  cannot  afford  it. 

There  are  two  possible  solutions.  The  State  might  take  over  the  problem 
of  poor-relief  and  district  its  territory  for  the  care  of  indoor  paupers.  If 
this  solution  were  desirable  within  itself,  there  is  little  probability  that  the 
people  would  look  with  favor  on  it.  The  second  possible  solution  is  the  dis- 
tricting of  the  State  by  the  voluntary  action  of  the  counties. 

The  last  biennial  report  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Wel- 
fare points  out  that  this  is  not  a  new  idea  in  North  Carolina,  and  discusses 
the  proposition  as  follows: 

"In  1915,  Mr.  J.  J.  Laughinghouse,  of  Pitt  County,  secured  the  passage  of 
a  law  providing  for  such  a  district,  composed  of  eleven  counties  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  State — Beaufort,  Chowan,  Dare,  Gates,  Hertford,  Martin, 
Pasquotank,  Perquimans,  Pitt,  Tyrrell,  and  Washington.  This  law  provides 
that  these  counties  shall  jointly  build  and  operate  an  institution  to  be  known 
as  'Community  Home  Number  One  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm.'  This  home  has 
not  been  built. 

"There  are  objections  to  such  a  plan.  The  most  frequently  urged  are  the 
following:  First,  the  district  home  would  take  some  of  the  inmates  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  their  homes,  so  that  their  friends  could  not  easily 
visit  them.  Second,  it  would  be  a  step  toward  further  centralization  of  gov- 
ernmental powers,  and  away  from  local  self-government.  Third,  the  district 
home  would  cost  more. 

"The  first  objection  seems,  until  it  is  studied  rather  carefully,  more  for- 
midable than  it  really  is.  Except  in  rather  rare  cases  the  visits  of  friends 
may  be  dismissed,  because  such  visits  are  rare  enough  to  be  negligible. 
These  simple  people,  especially  if  they  be  old,  often  do  feel  a  shock  at  being 
removed  from  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  their  old  homes;  but  in  most 
cases,  after  the  journey  is  taken,  it  probably  would  make  little  difference 
whether  the  new  home  were  twenty  or  a  hundred  miles  away. 

"The  second  objection,  translated  into  plain,  every-day  language,  means 
that  some  fellow  in  the  county  may  lose  a  job,  or  that  a  county  office  may 
lose  some  of  its  prestige.  We  need  to  learn  that  government  is  a  business 
enterprise  undertaken  by  a  whole  people.  For  the  sake  of  convenience, 
economy,  and  efficiency,  we  have  various  units  ranging  from  the  school  dis- 
trict to  the  whole  State.  Certain  enterprises  may  be  undertaken  by  the 
school  district.  Others  may  be  more  economically  and  efficiently  done  by 
the  county.  Others,  such  as  the  employment  of  a  solicitor  for  the  Superior 
Court,  may  require  a  group  of  counties.  Still  others  need  to  be  backed  by 
the  resources  of  the  whole  State.  The  government  of  the  State,  or  of  any 
one  of  the  larger  subdivisions  of  the  State,  may  be  just  as  much  government 
by  the  people  as  the  government  of  the  county. 

"The  district  home  would  cost  more.  This  objection  is  hard  to  answer 
because  we  have  little  data  upon  which  to  base  an  intelligent  discussion.  It 
probably  would  cost  some  counties  more — it  certainly  would,  because  they 
are  not  caring  for  their  poor  under  present  conditions.  It  would  cost  a  num- 
ber of  counties  less  than  they  are  now  spending. 

"Let  us  take  the  district  proposed  by  Mr.  Laughinghouse.  If  we  add  Cam- 
den, Currituck,  and  Hyde,  the  other  three  counties  in  the  First  Congres- 
sional District,  we  have  a  territory  with  a  county  home  population,  taking 
the  average  per  month  for  last  year,  of  89.  There  are  now  77.  To  care  for 
80  or  90  people  the  counties  in  the  district  are  attempting  to  maintain  twelve 
institutions.     Two  others  are  standing  idle.     The  cost  per  month  per  inmate 


22  PooE  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina 

last  year  varied  from  $14  in  Pasquotank  to  $89  in  Pitt,  The  average  for  the 
district  was  $38.65  per  capita  per  month  as  compared  with  $23.30  for  the 
State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Raleigh.  Only  one  county  fell  materially 
below  the  cost  of  the  State  Hospital.  Bight  went  considerably  above.  Two 
more  than  doubled  it,  and  one  cost  almost  four  times  as  much.  For  one 
county  (Martin)  we  have  been  unable  to  obtain  any  figures. 

"The  counties  of  this  district  have  invested  in  county  homes  a  total  of 
$157,627.  Of  this  amount  $71,867  is  the  total  value  of  buildings.  This  leaves 
$85,760  as  the  total  value  of  farms  and  farm  equipment.  The  total  cost  of 
maintenance  for  eleven  county  homes  in  the  district  for  the  year  ending 
November  30,  1921,  was  $37,011.57. 

"Suppose  these  counties  should  decide  to  build  one  institution.  They  have 
property  on  which  they  should  be  able  to  realize  at  least  $100,000  for  the 
central  plant.  There  would  have  to  be  some  readjustment  as  to  the  propor- 
tions of  the  maintenance  fund  raised  by  the  various  counties,  but  with  the 
total  they  could  meet  the  following  budget: 

Superintendent    $  2,500.00 

Matron  1,500.00 

Two  practical  nurses 2,500.00 

Physician's  services  1,500.00 

Board,  etc.,  at  $20  per  month  per  inmate 21,360.00 

Miscellaneous    1,000.00 

Surplus    6,651.57 

Total $  37,011.57 

Present  expenditure  for  maintenance  of  eleven  county 

homes     $  37,011.57 

"In  selecting  a  congressional  district  we  do  not  intend  to  suggest  that  the 
congressional  district  furnishes  the  best  unit  for  the  district  hospital  home. 
The  almshouse  district  should  be  geographically  more  compact.  We  mean 
merely  to  suggest  that  a  small  number  of  district  homes  of  a  creditable  type 
may  be  operated  at  about  the  same  cost  as  the  present  large  number  of 
county  homes." 

The  Legislature  at  its  1923  regular  session  passed  a  law  providing  for  the 
forming  of  districts  and  the  building  of  district  hospital-homes  for  the  aged 
and  infirm.  So  far  no  district  has  been  formed  under  this  law.  Several 
counties  have  discussed  the  matter,  but  they  have  been  unable  to  agree. 
Usually  the  trouble  has  been  that  the  counties  could  not  get  together  on  the 
location  of  the  institution.  Local  jealousies  must  be  overcome  and  local 
pride  sometimes  violated  if  we  are  to  make  progress.  The  Legislature  has 
made  it  possible  for  the  small  county  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  county 
home  by  cooperation  with  its  neighbors.  The  district  home  cannot  be  located 
in  all  of  the  counties  of  the  district.  It  cannot  be  located  on  neutral  ground, 
because  there  is  no  such  ground.  Concessions  must  be  made.  It  is  a  chal- 
lenge to  the  efficiency  of  county  government.  The  law  will  be  found  near 
the  end  of  this  bulletin. 


Poor  Relief  in  j^orth  Carolina 


23 


NEW  COUNTY  HOMES 

The  following  pages  tell  graphically  the  story  of  the  progress  in  poor- 
relief  as  represented  by  new  buildings  for  the  last  five  years.  Nearly  all  of 
these  new  homes  have  been  built  in  accordance  with  plans  approved  by  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare. 


The  first  of  the  two  pictures  above  represents  the  Stanly  County  home  as 
it  appeared  in  1920.    The  second  presents  the  new  home  as  it  appears  today. 


24 


Poor  Relief  in  N^orth  Carolina 


1 

iiW&™r^;5^--.  ^M 

=iiS 

IWl^^-  V^SI^  :,.^ 

m''sm«' 

v:r"'m:<<Mm-  Kmmm 

«=il ■ 

Ill 

iiiiiiiiii 

iililliiili 

liiiiiSiiii i 

■■■■■■I 

Ilili 

■Iiii 

^^g-^: 

.;.••■/■ 

^„..    ^.,.. 

■  %m 

'mm-'-'^ 

^^^p^^ 

:  ■':-S';-iyiiiillB 

&! '. 

i-'**/'*-««^'^^f~>'s 

i'liiilllB' 

liifei^-.^ 

kM 

^^"■y^ 

lliBlllB 

fmsmmm 

^x:mM^^Bim 

Iliiliipi:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

■ ii 

^^»f^ 

^^.mSml^^ 

;iii;|||^^^fSl  ■;■;■! 

::,>  >:iiis^H§^fcfe| 

iwiSsl^^aB 

WmM..-:rMmmg i 

iiiiiliii 

;,;i|^^^^|;, ;;::.: 

"%B-\  :'   'iii^SMil 

iiptlj 

iiliff-^^^ 

^k,mami 

ililii 

B"m 

iilliillillli 

■■i"'l  ■ 

i 

:;:;::;::ijliiif 

1 

■••■liiiii 

B ii iiii '■^mm^ 

:v''i:lli 

Bcsliil liiiiii 

ma^ma iiMi 

llllililBt 

iijis 

■HI 
■■■■ 

In  1920  this  building  took  the  place  of  the  wretched  shacks,  shows  in  the 
first  picture  above,  as  Watauga's  county  home.  It  cares  at  the  present  time 
also  for  Avery  County's  poor,  by  special  arrangement  between  the  two  coun- 
ties. Watauga  is  one  of  the  counties  that  still  sells  the  keeping  of  the  county 
home  to  the  "lowest  responsible  bidder." 


Poor  Relief  in  IvToeth  Carolina 


25 


When  Dr.  William  McDonald  of  the  National  Committee  for  Mental  Hy- 
giene visited  a  number  of  the  county  homes  in  the  State  in  the  early  part  of 
1920,  he  reported  conditions  in  the  Guilford  County  home  extremely  bad. 
The  report  caused  a  storm  of  protest;  but  with  her  characteristic  progres- 
sive spirit,  Guilford  County  replied  to  the  criticisms  by  erecting  an  up-to-date 
county  home  plant  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars. 
The  old  and  the  new  homes  are  shown  above. 


26 


PooK  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina 


Above  the  Wilson  County  home  in  1920.     Below  the  new  home  as  it  ap- 
pears today. 


Poor  Relief  tx  Xorth  Carolina 


27 


The  first   picture  above   is   the   Chatham   County   home   as   it   appeared   in 
1920.     The  new  home  below  was  opened  in  1922. 


28 


Poor  Eelief  in  ^oeth  Carolina 


fe 


■,^  „-,  ^>,p* 


'•   ■•'-"''■■'•■■'•;%Vk;.; 


The  Chatham  County  home  has  two  comfortable  living  rooms  for  its  in- 
mates—one for  whites  and  one  for  negroes — that  are  actually  used.  The 
fire  was  not  built  in  order  to  have  a  picture  made.  The  visitors  who  made 
it  dropped  in  unannounced  on  an  autumn  day  when  it  was  barely  cool  enough 
for  a  fire  to  be  comfortable.  Two  inmates  are  shown  as  they  were  dressed 
when  the  visitors  arrived. 


Poor  Relief  in  N^orth  Carolina 


29 


^, 

1 

^^ 

S 

K 

'f 

■                                     '       . 

I^L    ^S 

^S 

^ 

■1 

K'#"' 

W^  ^     > 

?^*^^g 

,-.  m 

--^^ 

1 

This  new  county  home  replaced  the  cheap  wooden  cottages  above,  in  Ran- 
dolph County,  in  1921.  Owing  to  the  location,  it  was  necessary  to  take  the 
picture  of  the  new  home  from  the  rear  of  the  building. 


Q    ^ 


Poor  Eelief  in  ]^orth  Carolina  31 


The  new  Burke  County  home,  built  in  1922,  also  replaced  a  group  of  cheap 
wooden  cottages.  It  is,  unfortunately,  located  off  a  main  highway.  The 
county  should  make  it  accessible  by  building  a  good  road  to  it. 


PooE  Eelief  in  ^N'orth  Caeolina 


33 


^ 

^ 

^E 

E 

1^ 

M''-: 

■  /^^«i 

fc    ^m        '  '    '^S 

HH^^^B^  k<^,  iMs.^^, 

w 

~'^^^ 

ihi 

*-i 

Two  years  ago  the  Halifax  County  home  was  as  shown  in  the  first  picture. 
Her  poor  are  now  housed  in  the  modern  building  shown  in  the  second 
picture. 


34 


PooE  Relief  in  I^orth  Carolina 


This  is  the  new  Johnston  County  home.  This  home  replaced  the  cheap 
wooden  cottages  used  for  white  inmates.  The  better  of  the  old  cottages  are 
still  used  for  the  negroes.  The  new  home  was  opened  last  year  (1923). 
One  of  the  cottages  of  the  old  home  is  shown. 


Poor  Relief  ix  Xoeth  Carolina 


35 


1 

1 

^^^ 

1 

i 

The  first  of  the  two  pictures  above  shows  the  AVayne  County  home  as  it 
appeared  February  29,  1920.  It  consisted  of  four  small  wooden  buildings. 
A  fifth  was  burned  the  night  before  the  picture  was  made.  Three  insane 
negresses  were  burned  to  cinders  with  it.  One  of  these,  it  is  supposed,  set 
fire  to  the  building.  The  second  picture  shows  the  new  county  home  built 
in  1922. 


36 


Poor  Relief  in  ^N'orth  Carolina 


Perhaps  no  county  has  received  so  much  for  its  money  in  building  a  county 
home  as  Vance.  The  attractive  building  shown  above,  with  single  rooms  for 
all  inmates,  two  large  living  rooms,  two  dining  rooms,  commodious  kitchen, 
pantry  and  storage  rooms,  and  all  modern  conveniences,  cost  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  It  was  adequately,  comfortably,  and  attractively  furnished  through- 
out, under  the  supervision  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  at 
a  cost  of  one  thousand  dollars.  The  first  picture  above  shows  the  old  home. 
The  new  home  was  completed  last  year.  The  frontispiece  shows  the  front 
entrance. 


PooE  Relief  in  JSTorth  Carolina 


87 


Two  years  ago  Nash  County  sold  the  four-hundred-acre  farm  on  which  her 
county  home  was  located  and  erected  a  new  home  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  on  the  State  highway  between  Nashville  and  Rocky  Mount. 
The  new  home  is  modern  in  every  respect,  and  is  one  of  the  three  most  costly 
plants  in  the  State.  Durham  and  Robeson  also  now  have  under  construction 
buildings  the  cost  of  which  will  exceed  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The 
old  home,  consisting  of  a  group  of  wooden  cottages  without  modern  conven- 
iences, is  shown  in  the  first  picture. 


38 


PooK  Relief  in  I^orth  Carolina 


i^'-i^i^r*,      .i^'  -"i, ''   ''^ 


wumwr 


The  Alamance  County  home  shown  in  the  first  picture  above  was  replaced 
in  1923  by  the  modern  institution  shown  below.  This  building  is  of  brick 
veneer. 


Poor  Relief  in  Worth  Carolina 


39 


This  new  county  home  in  Rowan  County  replaced  a  group  of  very  old 
cottages.  In  the  building  of  the  new  home,  the  county  superintendent  of 
public  welfare,  Mrs.  Mary  0.  Linton,  has  worked  in  cooperation  with  the 
board  of  county  commissioners,  and  her  name  appears  with  theirs  on  the 
tablet  in  the  wall.  Due  largely  to  her  influence,  this  is  one  of  the  best 
equipped  county  homes  in  the  State. 


This  picture  shows  a  corner  of  the  operating  room  in  the  Rowan  County 
home. 


40 


Poor  Eelief  in  E'orth  Carolina 


A  modern  building,  in  process  of  construction,  to  cost  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  will  replace  this  county  home  in  Robeson 
County. 


Poor  Relief  in  North  Carolina 


41 


The  following  group  of  buildings  shows  additional  types  of  county  homes. 
The  Wake  and  Iredell  homes  illustrate  types  of  excellent  buildings,  but  are 
not  so  well  planned  for  the  care  of  sick  and  decrepit  inmates  as  the  newer 


Wake  County  Hospital  (County  Home) 


The  Iredell  County  Home 


institutions,  such  as  Guilford,  Nash,  and  Vance.  Both  the  pictures  shown 
here  were  made  in  1920.  The  trees  have  grown  since,  giving  each  institution 
a  more  pleasing  appearance,  but  making  it  more  difficult  to  get  a  good  pic- 
ture.    Craven  is  the  best  of  the  type  with  small  two-room  wooden  cottages 


42 


Poor  Belief  in  JN'orth  Carolina 


in  the  State.  This  type  is  rapidly  being  replaced  by  the  Nash  and  Vance 
types.  The  Granville  home  is  of  a  slightly  different  type  from  the  Craven 
institution.  Here  we  have  two  wooden  buildings  of  considerable  size  for 
inmates — one  for  white  and  one  for  colored.  The  two-story  building  is  the 
superintendent's  home.  The  writer  recently  had  what  was  for  him  a  unique 
experience  at  this  home.  He  found  both  the  county  health  officer  and  a  min- 
ister visiting  the  home  in  their  professional  capacities.  The  Yadkin  County 
home  is  the  last  of  the  log  cottages  in  the  State. 


The  Craven  County  Home 


The  Granville  County  Home 


Poor  Relief  in  I^orth  Carolina 


43 


The  Alleghany  and  Pamlico  homes  illustrate  types  of  institutions  that 
should  not  exist.  The  number  of  indoor  poor  in  these  counties,  however,  is 
so  small  that  it  seems  unreasonable  to  demand  the  expenditure  of  money 
necessary  for  a  modern  institution.  The  Legislature  has  now  provided  that 
such  counties  may  unite  with  other  counties  in  building  a  district  hospital- 
home. 


This  cheap  cottage  represents  the  provision  made  by  Alleghany  County  for 
her  indoor  poor. 


Pamlico  County  Home 


44 


Poor  Relief  in  I^orth  Carolina 


The  buildings  shown  on  this  page  constitute  the  Brunswick  County  home. 
It  is  not  on  a  highway,  but  is  reached  over  a  trail  through  the  sand  that 
becomes  impassable  for  a  Ford  in  dry  weather.  A  forest  fire  in  the  summer 
of  1924  burned  so  near  that  it  caught  in  a  mattress  that  was  being  aired 
on  the  balusters  of  the  front  porch. 


Poor  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina 


45 


flll^S^H 

■ 

fc 

ii^^^^H^^ 

■ill 
sipl 

^^ 

^^Si^^^^^S 

^g:||||| 

^^^^ 

IM^^^^m 

iiB 

sp 

M^ 

wBB^F^ 

^ 

WS^^^K^ ' '^^'^^^^'^  *^^*^S 

'W^^ 

^yy.^m^^BmT                       vI.^A 

I^O^^^^^ri 

In  the  early  summer  of  1924,  the  negro  shown  above  was  the  sole  inmate 
of  the  Brunswick  County  home.  For  his  keep  the  county  was  paying  forty- 
three  dollars  per  month  besides  furnishing  the  superintendent  a  house  and  a 
one-hundred-acre  farm  free  of  rent.  Incomplete  reports  indicate  that  the 
average  number  of  inmates  for  the  last  fifteen  years  has  been  about  five. 
When  the  writer  visited  the  county  in  1923  there  were  none.  In  1924  he 
found  one.     This  county  cannot  afford  to  maintain  a  county  home. 


46 


PooK  Relief  in  ^oeth  Caeolina 


This  is  one  of  several  log  cabins  that  make  up  the  county  home  in  Yadkin 
County.  This  county  is  considering  the  building  of  a  new  home.  It  should 
be  possible  for  it  to  join  some  of  the  adjoining  counties  in  maintaining  a 
district  home. 


The  only  negro  inmate  of  the  Lenoir  County  home  was  burned  to  death 
early  in  the  summer  of  this  year  (1924)  when  the  building,  the  ruins  of 
which  are  shown  here,  was  burned.  The  building  was  lighted  by  kerosene 
lamps.  The  inmate,  an  old  feeble  woman,  it  is  supposed  accidentally  upset 
one  of  these. 


Poor  Relief  in  J^orth  Carolina 


47 


\ 

"^  / 

"  \ 

ti             -  ,  '^'^1'  #'^< 

t  ^aJ 

\'  . 

1                    ^  -'''^^Hm- 

— ^ 

warn 

^"jd 

g         ifflMli'iii  ii3 

1 

Bb^^^v 

■ 

^^■13 

■ 

m 

^ 

p^^M 

,*! "  .s 

The  Scotland  County  home  farm  pays  a  profit  over  all  expenses  of  operat- 
ing the  home. 


This  building,  one  of  two  just  alike  which  constitute  the  living  quarters 
for  the  inmates  of  the  Orange  County  home,  has  been  in  use  just  one  hun- 
dred years. 


4:8 


Poor  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina 


This  privy  in  daily- 
use  at  the  county  home 
of  one  of  the  largest 
counties  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State  is 
filthy  beyond  descrip- 
tion. The  ventilation 
shaft  would  suggest  a 
sanitary  pit  type;  but 
if  there  has  ever  been  a 
pit,  it  has  long  since 
filled  to  overflowing.  A 
number  of  this  type  are 
to  be  found  in  the  State. 


Contrast  this  inex- 
pensive but  sanitary 
privy  built  last  year  in 
another  eastern  county 
after  a  suggestion  to  the 
superintendent  by  a 
member  of  the  staff  of 
the  State  Board  of 
Public  Welfare.  The 
pictures,  unfortunately, 
cannot  show  the  differ- 
ence. 


Poor  Relief  in  J^orth  Carolina  49 


OUTDOOR  RELIEF 

It  is  the  purpose  here  to  discuss  outdoor  relief  only  in  relation  to  the 
operation  of  the  county  home.  The  evils  of  the  poor  list  are  pretty  well 
recognized.  Until  very  recently  there  has  been  little  or  no  effort  to  super- 
vise the  outdoor  poor  in  this  State.  There  have  been  no  facilities  for  such 
supervision.  The  county  commissioners  at  best  could  only  listen  to  appeals 
for  aid  and  use  their  best  judgment,  usually  without  investigation,  as  to 
whether  aid  should  be  given.  Sometimes  the  appeal  has  been  made  on 
political  grounds — the  person  applying  for  aid  votes  right;  or  a  cross-roads 
merchant  conceives  the  idea  of  getting  some  of  a  delinquent  purchaser's 
bills  paid.  And  sometimes  this  same  cross-roads  merchant  forgets  to  report 
when  his  customer  dies,  and  goes  on  drawing  the  pittance  from  the  county. 
Sometimes  a  person  in  real  need  is  placed  on  the  poor  list;  the  reason  for 
aid  ceases  to  exist,  but  he  goes  on  drawing  his  monthly  or  quarterly  allow- 
ance from  the  county.  The  amount  paid  has  usually  been  very  small — one 
to  three  dollars  per  month.  The  effect  of  such  a  system  has  been  bad.  It 
has  tended  not  only  to  lower  the  standard  of  the  administration  of  county 
government  and  to  encourage  petty  graft,  but  at  the  same  time  to  pauperize 
the  one  to  whom  the  grant  was  made. 

A  few  boards  of  county  commissioners,  recognizing  the  evils  of  the  system, 
have  abolished  outdoor  relief  entirely  and  require  all  persons  receiving  aid 
from  the  county  to  go  to  the  county  home.  A  much  larger  number  now 
require  that  all  new  cases  be  investigated  by  the  county  superintendent  of 
public  welfare,  and  aid  is  given  only  on  his  recommendation.  A  number  of 
counties  have  had  the  superintendent  also  to  check  the  entire  list.  Con- 
siderable numbers  of  those  who  are  dead,  who  have  moved  to  other  counties 
or  other  States,  or  who  no  longer  need  help,  have  been  dropped  from  the  list. 
In  one  small  county  the  saving  thus  effected  amounted  to  several  hundred 
dollars  a  year.  In  another  county  twenty-five  were  dropped  within  the  first 
year  after  the  matter  was  placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  superintendent 
of  public  welfare. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  that 
it  is  unwise  to  require  all  persons  receiving  aid  from  the  county  to  go  to  the 
county  home.  It  is  frequently  more  humane  as  well  as  economical  to  grant 
outside  aid.  There  are  conditions  under  which  it  is  positively  brutal  to 
force  an  old  person  to  choose  between  the  county  home  and  abject  want.  On 
the  other  hand,  unsupervised  outdoor  relief  is  little  better,  often  worse,  than 
no  aid.  To  be  effective  it  must  be  carefully  supervised.  The  aim  should  be 
to  aid  the  pauper,  in  so  far  as  is  possible,  to  make  an  effort  to  support  him- 
self. In  many  cases,  if  we  are  not  to  continue  to  waste  the  money  spent  for 
this  purpose,  the  amount  given  to  the  individual  must  be  materially  in- 
creased. Tables  found  elsewhere  in  this  study  show  the  cost  of  outdoor 
relief  and  the  tax  rate  necessary  to  support  this  form  of  relief  in  the  various 
counties  of  the  State. 


50 


Poor  Relief  in  JSToeth  Carolina 


TxlXATION   FOR  POOR  RELIEF 

Counties  ranked  from  high  to  low  on  the  basis  of  rate  on  $100  taxable 
property  necessary  to  raise  the  amounts  expended  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  county  home  and  for  outdoor  relief.  The  products  of  the  county  home 
farm  used  in  the  home  are  included.  A  few  counties  do  not  appear  because 
it  was  impossible  to  secure  the  necessary  figures  from  them.  The  figures 
are  based  upon  reports  for  the  year  1921.  There  would  be  a  few  marked 
changes  today,  but  complete  figures  are  not  available. 


1.  Avery   083 

2.  Carteret  076 

3.  Clay    074 

4.  Dare   070 

5.  Jackson    064 

6.  Bertie  055 

6.     Burke  055 

8.  Caswell    052 

9.  Brunswick 051 

10.  Wilkes    050 

11.  Pamlico   047 

12.  Yadkin    046 

13.  Anson     045 

13.     Cabarrus   045 

13.     Nash  045 

16.  Lincoln    044 

17.  Hyde     043 

17.     Orange  043 

17.     Warren    043 

17.     Watauga    043 

21.  Columbus    042 

22.  Person    041 

22.  Robeson  041 

23.  Franklin    040 

24.  Iredell    039 

24.     Surry    039 

26.     Lee    038 

26.     Pasquotank  038 

28.  Montgomery  037 

29.  Cherokee  036 

29.     Transylvania   036 

29.     Wake    036 

32.     Ashe   035 

32.     Madison 035 

34.     Gates    034 

34.     Haywood   034 

34.     Vance  034 

37.     Cumberland    033 

37.     Rockingham  033 

37.     Union   033 

40.     Hertford    032 

40.     Moore  032 

42.  Caldwell    031 

43.  Granville  030 

44.  Davie    029 

45.  Alexander   028 

45.     Beaufort    028 


47. 
47. 
47. 
47. 
51. 
51. 
51. 
54. 
54. 
54. 
54. 
54. 
59. 
59. 
61. 
61. 
61. 
61. 
65. 
66. 
67. 


Graham    027 

Mitchell   027 

Polk    027 

Richmond    027 

Camden    026 

Catawba    026 

Pitt    026 

Cleveland   025 

Currituck .025 

Davidson    025 

Onslow    025 

Stokes   - 025 

Alleghany  024 

Wilson  024 

Edgecombe  023 

Henderson    .023 

Pender    023 

Rutherford     023 

Gaston    022 

Swain    021 

Sampson    020 

Harnett    019 

Macon    019 

New  Hanover  019 

Randolph    019 

Stanly   018 

Yancey    _ 018 

Buncombe    017 

Duplin 017 

Johnston    017 

Mecklenburg    017 

Alamance    016 

Bladen  016 

Greene    016 

Halifax    015 

Wayne    014 

Chowan  013 

Forsyth  Oil 

Rowan .011 

Craven    010 

Lenoir  009 

Jones   008 

Guilford 006 

Washington   006 

Hoke    005 

Scotland    002 

Tyrrell    002 


Poor  Relief  in  ^oeth  Carolina 


51 


TABLE  II 

Tax  Levy  Per  $100  Necessary  to  Raise  Amounts  Spent  in  Various  Counties 
For  Poor  Relief  For  the  Year  1921 


County 

0 

3   X   nS  cc 

§ 
O 

! 

o 

1. 

Alamance - - 

.009 

.013 

.003 

.016 

Alexander 

.018 

.025 

.003 

.028 

3. 

AlleKhany 

.013 

.016 

.007 

.024 

4. 

Anson 

.030 

.043 

.002 

.045 

5. 

Ashe 

.017 

.023 

.012 

.035 

6. 

Avery 

.072 

.076 

.007 

.083 

7. 

Beaufort 

.013 

.021 

.007 

.028 

8. 

Bertie 

.033 

.050 

.005 

.055 

9. 

Bladen 

.016 

.016 

10. 

Bruns\^ick 

.025 

.029 

.022 

.051 

11. 

Buncombe 

.009 

.011 

.006 

.017 

12. 

Burke 

.022 

.027 

.028 

.055 

13. 

Cabarrus 

.030 

.039 

.006 

.045 

14. 

Caldwell 

.012 

.022 

.009 

.031 

15. 

Camden 

.013 

.013 

.013 

.026 

16. 

Carteret 

.051 

.062 

.014 

.076 

17. 

Caswell 

.036 

.042 

.010 

.052 

18. 

Catawba 

.014 

.024 

.002 

.026 

19. 

Chatham 

20. 

Cherokee 

.013 

.013 

.023 

.036 

21. 

Chowan 

.009 

.011 

.002 

.013 

22. 

Clay 

.074 

.074 

23. 

Cleveland 

.017 

.021 

.004 

.025 

24. 

Columbus 

.012 

.021 

.021 

.042 

25. 

Craven 

.009 

.001 

.010 

26. 

Cumberland 

.022 

.024 

.009 

.033 

27. 

Currituck 

.005 

.020 

.025 

28. 

Dare 

.070 

.070 

29. 

Davidson 

.011 
.014 

.018 

.018 

.007 
.011 

.025 

30. 

Da\ie 

.029 

31. 

Duplin 

.010 

.012 

.005 

.017 

32. 

Durham 

.008 

.002 

33. 

Edprecombe 

.007 

.016 

.007 

.023 

34. 

Forsj^th 

.007 

.008 

.003 

.011 

35. 

Franklin 

.013 

.031 

.009 

.040 

36. 

Gaston 

.014 

.020 

.002 

.022 

37. 

Gates 

.020 

.032 

.002 

.034 

38. 

Graham 

.027 

.027 

39. 

Granville 

.015 

.025 

.005 

.030 

40. 

Greene 

.011 
.003 

.011 
.004 

.005 
.002 

.016 

41. 

Guilford 

.006 

42. 

Halifax 

.012 

.014 

.001 

.015 

43. 

Harnett 

.008 

.008 

.011 

.019 

44. 

Haywood 

.010 

.026 

.008 

.034 

45. 

Henderson 

.014 

.020 

.003 

.023 

46. 

Hertford 

.022 

.032 

.032 

47. 

Hoke 

.005 

.005 

48. 

Hyde 

.016 

.017 

.026 

.043 

49. 

Iredell 

.021 

.034 

.005 

.039 

50. 

Jackson 

.023 

.034 

.030 

.064 

51. 

Johnston 

.005 

.012 

.005 

.017 

52. 

Jones 

.008 

.008 

52 


Poor  Relief  in  J^orth  Carolina 


TABLE  II— Continued 


County 

1 
1 

o 

1 

53. 

Lee 

.028 

.033 

.005 

.038 

54. 

Lenoir 

.009 

.0003 

.0093 

55. 

Lincoln 

.024 

.029 

.015 

.044 

56. 

McDowell 

.012 

.007 

57. 

Macon 

.013 

.019 

.019 

58. 

Madison 

.030 

.032 

.003 

.035 

59. 

Martin 

.007 

.011 

60. 

Mecklenburg 

.011 

.014 

.003 

.017 

61. 

Mitchell 

.007 

.021 

.006 

.027 

62. 

Montgomery 

.013 

.023 

.014 

.037 

63. 

Moore 

.009 

.020 

.012 

.032 

64. 

Nabh 

.028 

.042 

.003 

.045 

65. 

Now  Hanover 

.009 

.016 

.003 

.019 

66. 

Northampton 

67. 

Onslow 

.025 

.025 

68. 

Oiange 

.032 

.038 

.005 

.043 

69. 

Pamlico 

.032 

.015 

.047 

70. 

Pasquotank 

.022 

.016 

.038 

71. 

Pender 

.005 

.018 

.023 

72. 

Perquimans 

.024 

.019 

73. 

Person 

.020 

.034 

.007 

.041 

74. 

Pitt 

.015 

.024 

.002 

.026 

75. 

Polk 

.016 

.011 

.027 

76. 

Randolph 

.007 

.012 

.007 

.019 

77. 

Richmond 

.018 

.021 

.006 

.027 

78. 

Robeson 

.016 



.025 

.041 

79. 

Rockingham 

.017 

.026 

.007 

.033 

80. 

Rowan 

.005 

.007 

.004 

.011 

81. 

Rutherford 

.014 

.020 

.003 

.023 

82. 

Sampson 

.008 

.014 

.006 

.020 

83. 

Scotland 

.0004 

.0004 

.002 

.0024 

84. 

Stanly 

.008 

.014 

.004 

.018 

85. 

Stokes 

.012 

.022 

.003 

.025 

86. 

Suriy 

.019 

.029 

.010 

.039 

87. 

Swain 

.015 

.021 

.021 

88. 

Tiansylvania 

.023 

.024 

.012 

.036 

89. 

Tyrrell 

.002 

.002 

90. 

Union 

.009 

.025 

.008 

.033 

91. 

Vance 

.022 

.028 

.006 

.034 

92. 

Wake 

.019 

.033 

.003 

.036 

93. 

Warren 

.023 

.043 

.043 

94. 

Washington 

.006 

.006 

95. 

Watauga 

.024 

.032 

.011 

.043 

96. 

Wayne 

.005 

.007 

.007 

.014 

97. 

Wilkes 

.024 

.049 

.001 

.050 

98. 

Wilson 

.015 

.018 

.006 

.024 

99. 

Yadkin 

.031 

.041 

.005 

.046 

100 

Yancey 

.006 

.012 

.006 

.018 

Poor  Relief  in  I^orth  Carolina 


53 


TABLE  III 

The  table  below  gives  the  average  number  of  inmates  per  day  in  county 
homes  in  the  various  counties  in  the  State  for  the  years  1921,  1922,  and 
1923,  and  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  homes  for  these  years,  exclusive  of 
farm  products  produced  on  county  home  farms  and  used  in  the  homes. 


County 

1921 

1922 

1923 

No. 

Cost 

No. 

Cost 

No. 

Cost 

18 
14 

6 
19 
11 

7 

9 
22 
.... 

8 
32 
22 
50 
13 

1 
15 

5 
25 

8 
5 

24 
13 
12 
18 

1 

21 
9 
11 
37 
31 
65 
22 
30 
3 

27 

27 
27 

5 
28 

5 
11 

4 
55 

7 

$     2,876.29 
1,414.71 
870.00 
6,723.76 
2,214.11 
4,184.46 
6,000.00 
5,150.00 

12 
14 
5 
17 

9 
12 
24 

4 
50 

55 
15 

2 
15 

8 
15 

8 
5 
5 
18 
9 

20 

1 

24 
6 
6 
32 
32 
55 

5 

3 

5 
23 
14 
12 

4 
45 
12 

$     3,046.65 
985.00 
1,000.00 
2,434.80 
2,345.00 
1,858.10 
4,500.00 
257.00 

22 
12 
5 
20 

8 
13 
22 

1 
40 
23 
47 
15 

2 
13 
10 
20 
13 

8 

2 
17 
9 

20 

1 

21 

8 
6 
38 
31 
57 
22 
38 
5 

22 

3 
66 
25 

3 
25 

8 
15 

5 

45 
12 

$     3,418.10 

3,013.20 

Alleghany 

1,200.00 
4,260.28 

Ashe 

1,791.47 

878.01 

Beaufort                   .... 

3,939.00 

Bertie* 

1,495.58 

2,562.08 
8,171.62 
3,210.81 
12,200.00 
2,058.30 
500.00 
6,977.13 
3,325.64 
3,453.14 

1,978.23 
13,045.80 

1,244.73 

11,936.66 

Burke 

4,059.50 

Cabarrus 

19,128.62 
2,136.86 
174.61 
6,133.83 
2,253.54 
1,200.00 

6,992.22 

Caldwell 

2,089.10 

319.52 

Carteret 

3,938.61 

Caswell 

500.00 

Catawba 

1,772.65 

Chatham 

5,842.47 

1,144.97 
963.82 

960.00 
1,000.00 
1,200.00 
1,620.00 
4,233.57 

890.32 

871.34 

Clay 

600.00 

Cleveland 

6,168.25 
2,750.00 
2,888.13 
6,772.16 
260.20 

3,365.00 

Columbus 

5,408.71 

2,384.65 

6,275.33 
216.00 

7,422.98 

200.00 

Dare  (No  Home) 

3,781.00 
1,800.00 
2,820.00 
7,885.06 
2,421.44 
9,520.66 
2,100.00 
9,448.37 
1,500.00 

5,910.40 
2,460.00 
4,000.00 
6,945.55 
2,721.21 
9,627.08 

4,071.27 

2,400.00 

Duplin... 

4,000.00 

Durham 

6,891.15 

Edgecombe 

4,941.23 

Forsyth 

10,424.22 

5,953.29 

6,968.57 

Gates 

1,124.19 

1,280.46 

Graham    (No  Home) 

Granville 

5,867.00 

2,210.00 
1,200.00 

5,376.72 

1,200.00 

Guilford 

4,529.97 
4,511.00 
1,887.82 
2,040.00 
2,267.40 
2,427.28 

9,854.75 

Halifax 

4,747.58 
1,160.11 
2,000.00 
3,042.12 
2,460.28 

11,455.43 

Harnett 

2,316.43 

Haywood 

2,000.00 

1,838.56 

Hertford 

2,337.41 

Hoke    (No  Home) 

Hyde 

1,293.47 
9,153.55 
2,394.00 

1,000.00 
6,843.50 
2,578.00 

1,373.73 

Iredell 

8,744.01 

Jackson 

2,500.00 

*Bertie  County  home  is   supported  largely  by  the   county  home  farm  which  is   worked   by 
the  county  prisoners. 


54 


PooK  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina 


TABLE  III— Continued 


Johnston 

Jones    (No  Home).... 

Lee 

Lenoir 

Lincoln 

McDowell 

Macon 

Madison 

Martin 

Mecklenburg 

Mitchell 

Montgomery 

Moore 

Nash 

New  Hanover 

Northampton 

Onslow    (No  Home).. 

Orange 

Pamlico 

Pasquotank 

Pender 

Perquimans 

Person 

Pitt 

Polk 

Randolph 

Richmond 

Robeson 

Rockingham 

Rowan 

Rutherford 

Sampson 

Scotlandt 

Stanly 

Stokes 

Surry 

Swain 

Transylvania 

Tyrrell    (No   Home)... 

Union 

Vance 

Wake 

Warren 

Washington 

Watauga 

Wayne 

Wilkes 

Wilson 

Yadkin 

Yancey 


Totals... 


2,450.00 


3,035.00 

2,881.22 

3,831.82 

2,237.86 

864.00 

3,086.25 

1,200.00 

13,317.47 

760.00 

2,173.95 

2,400.00 

12,673.80 

10,615.69 


4,908.78 
1,763.02 
3,900.23 
550.96 
1,654.81 
3,393.17 
8,863  22 
1,100.00 
1,500.00 
5,590.00 
7,030.30 
7,485.00 
2,450.00 
3,975.05 
3,142.00 


2,500.00 
1,640.44 


1,860.00 
1,850.00 


2,270.00 
5,247.36 
16,570.00 
3,681.53 
600.00 
2,289.50 
2,753.24 
3,739.40 
7,001.36 
2,952.82 
690.00 


$366,400.47   ]     1,376 


3,358.63 


3,132.41 
2,400.00 
1,881.38 
1,900.00 


1,728.00 
2,000.00 
11,000.00 
961.43 
4,888.00 
6,297.21 
11,844.09 
10,603.46 
2,400.00 


1,700.00 
1,953.03 
3,598.61 


1,798.51 
4,250.00 


1,506.04 
3,715.88 
5,363.68 
3,600.00 

3,900  00 
4,441.86 
2,970.78 


6,361.78 
1,665.07 
2,724.69 

350.00 


27,376.17 
4,200.00 

31,021.44 

2,701.45 

964.20 

4,404.76 
4,500  00 
9,926.00 
1,800.00 
630.28 


tin  1923,  the  Scotland  County  home  farm  turned  into  the  county  treasury  a  surplus  of 
$180.  This  does  not  mean  that  either  the  heme  or  the  farm  is  a  model  in  management. 
Scotland  is  contemplating  the  building  of  a  new  home.     The  present  one  is  very  poor. 


Poor  Relief  in  I^oeth  Carolina 
TABLE  III— Continued 


1921 

1922 

1923 

County 

No. 

Cost 

No. 

Cost 

No. 

Cost 

Estimated  corrections  on 

account      of     counties 

failing   to   report 

30 

5,500.00 

280 

44,800.00 

170 

1,000.00 

Totals,    corrected   in   ac- 

cord   with    these    esti- 

mates     

1,633 

$371,900.47 

1,656 

$384,187.40 

1,775 

$402,797.10 

Adding    value    of    farm 

products  reported  used 

in   homes  in   1921   and 

estimating  on  basis  of 

1921    survey    for    1922 

and     1923,     we     have 

Grand    Total 

$584,000.00 

$597,000.00 

$616,000.00 

56 


PooE  Relief  in  J^oeth  Caeolina 


TABLE  IV 
The   following   table   gives   the   amounts   spent   for   outdoor   relief   in   the 
various  counties  for  the  last  three  fiscal  years. 


County 

1921 

1922 

1923 

Alamance     

$     1,080.30 
180.00 

$     1,355.64 
500.00 

$  1,335.44 
1,130.00 

Alexander 

Alleghany 

500.00 

600.00 

900.00 

Anson 

365.15 

1,492.75 

1,315.45 

Ashe 

1,591.32 

1,533.06 

1,525.64 

Avery 

417.48 
2,100.00 

50.80 

Beaufort 

2,500.00 

2,500.00 

Bertie 

762.00 

863.00 

1,066.00 

Bladen 

2,606.00 

2,573.21 

2,622.35 

Brunswick 

2,205.00 

2,482.50 

3,170.00 

Buncombe 

5,270.13 

4,168.73 

Burke 

1,167.11 

3,301.17 

2,105.25 

Cabal rus 

2,500.00 

3,558.00 

3,332.00 

Caldwell 

1,624.00 

2,000.00 

2,053.50 

Camden 

500.00 

660.00 

530.00 

Carteret 

2,210.00 

3,290.52 

2,728.23 

Caswell 

960.00 

978.22 

682.00 

Catawba 

802.00 

783.00 

753.00 

Chatham 

2,135.84 
2,123.85 

Cherokee 

1,933.28 

2,878.66 

Chowan 

167.00 

200.00 

284.00 

Clay     . 

1,890.00 

Cleveland      . 

1,466.43 

1,689.00 

1,613.00 

Columbus   .. 

4,500.00 

4,667.73 

4,659.50 

Craven 

68.85 

236.00 

Cumberland 

2,628.23 

3,998.77 

6,053.76 

Currituck 

1,162.00 

1,000.00 

1,200.00 

Dare 

1,788.00 

2,160.00 

2,127.18 

Davidson 

2,280.00 

2,305.00 

2,211.00 

Davie 

1,278.00 

1,080.00 

1,080.00 

Duplin 

1,776.00 

3,000.00 

3,000.00 

Durham 

2,000.00 

5,186.47 

6,200.00 

Edgecombe 

2,408.78 

2,229.02 

1,836.00 

Forsyth 

1,332.00 

396.00 

2,302.87 

Franklin 

1,400.00 

2,605.88 
1,948.01 

Gaston 

1,800.00 

Gates 

225.00 

240.00 

477.22 

Graham 

1,464.00 

1,380.00 

1,560.00 

Granville 

813.50 

1,675.00 

802.50 

Greene 

678.00 

816.01 

1,307.00 

Guilford 

2,350.04 

2,246.53 

Halifax 

300.00 

1,250.00 

250.00 

Harnett 

2,733.00 

2,316.43 

2,623.50 

Haywood 

1,380.00 

1,440.00 
1,573.35 

Henderson 

366.00 

450.00 

Hertford 

36.00 

98.00 

Hoke 

555.00 

628.00 

710.00 

Hyde 

2,010.00 

2,400.00 

2,158.83 

Iredell 

2,348.48 

1,425.42 

1,900.00 

Jackson 

2,807.25 

2,400.00 

2,500.00 

Johnston 

2,450.00 

1,883.33 

1,703.00 

Jones 

675.50 

750.00 

850.00 

Lee 

550.00 

1,450.00 

1,605.02 

Lenoir 

109.00 

150.00 

300.00 

Lincoln 

2,348.45 

1,662.10 

2,004.00 

Poor  Relief  in  ^North  Carolina 
TABLE   IV— Continued 


57 


County 

1921 

1922 

1923 

McDowell 

1,556.50 

1,549.32 

1,982.94 

Macon 

1,400.72 

Madison 

324.00 

680.00 

564.90 

Martin 

2,000.00 

2,000.00 

2,016.00 

Mecklenburg 

3,904.00 

3,023.85 

3,208.25 

Mitchell 

600.00 

437.05 

504.20 

Montgomery 

2,336.75 

711.00 

852.00 

Moore 

2,499.87 

2,748.36 

3,050.00 

Nash     .. 

852.63 

940.50 

1,644.27 

New    Hanover 

3,900.00 

6,396.89 

8,196.89 

Northampton 

704.00 

781.34 

Onslow 

3,000.00 

2,311.70 

2,791.00 

Orange 

765.13 

225.00 

750.00 

Pamlico 

870.00 

1,163.00 

884.54 

Pasquotank 

2,068.60 

2,372.95 

2,292.88 

Pender 

1,891.38 

2,234.18 

2,538.26 

Perquimans 

909.00 

1,018.00 

1,086.00 

Person 

1,285.00 

983.50 

1,000.00 

Pitt      ... 

1,441.10 

3,131.22 
75.00 

Polk     ... 

800.00 

60.00 

Randolph 

1,440.00 

2,884.81 
1,421.52 

Richmond 

2,000.00 

1,490.00 

Robeson 

11,250.00 

12,500.00 

12,000.00 

Rockinghami 

3,200.00 

1,679.93 
2,185.08 

Rowan 

1,805.00 

2,359.00 

Rutherford 

800.00 

1,213.07 

3,608.21 

Sampson 

1,554.13 

1,204.76 

1,319.25 

Scotland 

484.00 

639.00 

716.00 

Stanly 

1,400.00 

1,382.83 

2,513.72 

Stokes 

413.00 

482.50 

649.00 

Surry     . 

2,435.01 

2,770.29 

1,710.20 

Swain    . 

2,147.00 
1,000.00 

Transylvania 

1,000.00 

800.00 

Tyrrell 

138.00 

906.00 

Union 

2,258.50 

4,596.50 

5,895.02 

Vance 

1,244.72 

1,377.25 

1,620.00 

Wake     . 

2,107.00 

2,167.00 

2,190.00 

Warren 

120.00 
750.00 

160.00 

Washington 

Watauga 

1,000.00 

1,477.50 

Wayne 

3,532.23 

4,656.55 

4,780.42 

Wilkes 

200.00 

1,000.00 

332.00 

Wilson 

2,870.72 

3,512.32 

3,573.48 

Yadkin 

432.00 

600.00 

400.00 

Yancey 

603.05 

728.30 

619.90 

Totals     

$154,053.60 

$153,594.18 

$193,837.68 

Estimated    corrections,    on    account    of    coun- 

ties   failing   to    report 

$     2,700.00 

$  21,500.00 

$     1,750.00 

Totals    corrected    in    accord    with    these    esti- 

mates 

$156,753.60 

$175,094.18 

$195,587.68 

58  Poor  Relief  in  J^orth  Carolina 

PER   CAPITA  COSTS 

The  per  capita  costs  given  in  the  following  table  are  based  on  the  survey 
made  in  1922  and,  therefore,  on  figures  for  the  year  1921.  Reports  on  amounts 
paid  from  the  county  treasuries  for  the  years  1922  and  1923  indicate  that  the 
per  capita  cost  has  increased  for  the  last  two  years  as  compared  with  the 
year  preceding  in  sixteen  counties,  and  that  it  has  decreased  in  eighteen 
counties.  In  the  other  counties  there  has  been  no  appreciable  change.  In 
the  counties  that  have  built  new  homes  and  have  occupied  them  long  enough 
to  indicate  the  effect  of  such  improvements  as  reflected  in  per  capita  costs 
of  operating,  two  show  appreciable  increases;  two,  corresponding  decreases; 
and  two  no  effect.  Only  one  shows  a  marked  increase  in  the  number  of 
inmates. 

In  estimating  the  per  capita  cost  no  account  has  been  taken  of  depreciation 
of  buildings  or  of  excess  of  interest  in  investment  over  products  of  the  farm. 
If  these  are  added,  the  per  capita  cost  in  many  instances  will  be  appreciably 
increased.  Excluding  these,  the  costs  in  many  counties  are  too  high. 
Twenty-five  dollars  per  month  is  a  big  price  to  pay  for  the  sort  of  care  the 
inmates  of  even  the  better  county  homes  are  getting.  Yet  the  per  capita 
cost  per  month  in  forty-eight  county  homes  is  more  than  twenty-five  dollars 
per  month.  Nine  homes  have  a  per  capita  cost  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
dollars;  eleven,  between  forty  and  fifty  dollars;  and  five,  over  fifty  dollars. 
The  highest  cost  is  eighty-seven  dollars  and  fifty-one  cents  ($87.51)  per  capita 
per  month.    For  such  a  sum  the  inmates  should  have  hospital  care. 

TABLE  V 

Per  Capita  Cost  Per  Month  of  Maintenance  of  County  Home 

Alamance   $  20.45  Dare  

Alexander  11.99  Davidson  , 23.77 

Alleghany  14.86  Davie   20.65 

Anson    29.22  Duplin  25.50 

Ashe  26.74  Durham  

Avery  49.57  Edgecombe  14.40 

Beaufort    60.18  Forsyth  16.40 

Bertie  29.87  Franklin  19.19 

Bladen Gaston  36.97 

Brunswick    30.02  Gates   49.37 

Buncombe  27.86  Graham  

Burke  14.64  Granville  17.49 

Cabarrus  27.42  Greene  26.67 

Caldwell    25.25  Guilford    10.84 

Camden   41.67  Halifax    16.78 

Carteret 45.54  Harnett  39.33 

Caswell    63.88  Haywood  16.04 

Catawba    26.36  Henderson    56.04 

Chatham   Hertford    27.06 

Cherokee  11.93  Hoke    

Chowan  19.81  Hyde  29.03 

Clay   Iredell   22.27 

Cleveland    25.99  Jackson  44.83 

Columbus    28.30  Johnston  29.64 

Craven  20.40  Jones   

Cumberland   33.85  Lee  14.22 

Currituck    24.14  Lenoir   26.67 


Poor  Relief  in  ^N'oeth  Carolina 


TABLE  V— Continued 


Lincoln    27.45 

Macon    11.75 

Madison    16.11 

Martin  

McDowell    26.64 

Mecklenburg  20.75 

Mitchell  31.22 

Montgomery  -    30.62 

Moore    23.78 

Nash  37.73 

New  Hanover 27.44 

Northampton 

Onslow    

Orange  54.71 

Pamlico  24.40 

Pasquotank    14.18 

Pender 

Perquimans   

Person  43.21 

Pitt  87.51 

Polk   22.92 

Randolph    _ 52.08 

Richmond  26.25 


Robeson    48.82 

Rockingham  26.37 

Rowan  20.30 

Rutherford  13.12 

Sampson   11.38 

Scotland    2.43 

Stanly    __ 18.58 

Stokes   14.75 

Surry  25.18 

Swain    27.97 

Transylvania  28.47 

Tyrrell  

Union     12.49 

Vance  40.21 

Wake  20.30 

Warren   31.07 

Washington   16.67 

Watauga 19.58 

Wayne  19.41 

Wilkes  19.87 

Wilson  48.26 

Yadkin  25.34 

Yancey    34.72 


60 


Poor  Relief  in  ^orth  Carolina 


TABLE  VI 


PAUPERS  IN  COUNTY  HOMES  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA  PER   100,000 
POPULATION 


Rank,  No. 

1.  Wake    160 

2.  Lee     .- 157 

3.  Cabarrus    151 

4.  Haywood    119 

5.  Watauga    118 

6.  Alexander    114 

7.  Granville    112 

8.  Montgomery    109 

9.  Rutherford    105 

9.     Union    105 

11.  Wilkes    98 

12.  Carteret   97 

13.  Iredell    95 

14.  Stanly     94 

15.  Perquimans     89 

16.  Pamlico    88 

17.  Durham   87 

17.     Vance    87 

19.  Richmond    86 

20.  Yadkin    85 

21.  Lincoln     84 

21.     Madison   84 

21.     Mecklenburg  84 

21.     Moore    84 

21.     Pasquotank  84 

26.  Bertie   83 

27.  Edgecombe    82 

28.  Surry    80 

29.  New  Hanover  78 

30.  Burke   77 

31.  Gaston    76 

32.  Forsyth 75 

33.  Rockingham   72 

34.  Macon  70 

35.  Northampton    69 

35.     Warren    69 

37.     Alleghany    67 

37.     Anson  67 

39.     Caldwell     65 

39.     Catawba     65 

41.     Sampson    64 

41.     Transylvania    64 

43.  Chatham    63 

44.  Randolph     62 

45.  Nash   61 

46.  Swain   60 

47.  Franklin    59 

47.     Guilford     59 

47.     Halifax     59 

50.     Davie    58 


Rank 

50.     Person 
52.     Ashe    ... 
52.     Avery    . 


No. 

,  58 
,  57 
,     57 


52.  Cleveland    57 

55.  Chowan    56 

55.  Davidson    56 

57.  Hertford    55 

58.  Stokes    53 

59.  Buncombe    51 

59.  Cumberland 51 

61.  Orange    50 

62.  Alamance    49 

63.  Polk    45 

64.  Mitchell    44 

65.  McDowell    42 

66.  Duplin 40 

67.  Gates 38 

68.  Jackson    37 

68.  Wayne    37 

70.  Hyde  36 

70.  Johnston    36 

72.  Wilson    35 

73.  Cherokee    33 

74.  Beaufort    32 

74.  Caswell    32 

76.  Greene    31 

77.  Lenoir     30 

78.  Craven    28 

79.  Brunswick     27 

79.  Henderson 27 

79.  Rowan    27 

82.  Columbus     26 

83.  Martin    24 

84.  Pitt    22 

84.  Robeson   22 

86.  Scotland    19 

86.  Yancey   19 

88.  Camden    18 

89.  Washington    16 

90.  Currituck    14 

91.  Harnett    7 

92.  Bladen    0 

92.  Clay    0 

92.  Dare    0 

92.  Graham    0 

92.  Hoke  0 

92.  Jones    0 

92.  Onslow   0 

92.  Pender    0 

92.  Tyrrell    0 


Poor  Belief  in  JSTorth  Carolina  61 


POOR   LAWS 

C.  S.  13  35.  Support  of  poor;  superintendent  of  county  home;  paupers 
removing  to  county.  The  board  of  commissioners  of  each  county  is  au- 
thorized to  provide  by  taxation  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor,  and  to  do 
everything  expedient  for  their  comfort  and  well  ordering.  They  may  employ 
biennially  some  competent  person  as  superintendent  of  the  county  home  for 
the  aged  and  infirm,  and  may  remove  him  for  cause.  They  may  institute 
proceedings  against  any  person  coming  into  the  county  who  is  likely  to 
become  chargeable  thereto,  and  cause  his  removal  to  the  county  where  he 
was  last  legally  settled;  and  they  may  recover  from  such  county  by  action  all 
charges  and  expenses  incurred  for  the  maintenance  or  removal  of  such  poor 
person. 

C.  S.  133  6.  County  home  for  aged  and  infirm.  All  persons  who  become 
chargeable  to  any  county  shall  be  maintained  at  the  county  home  for  the 
aged  and  infirm,  or  at  such  place  or  places  as  the  board  of  commissioners 
select  or  agree  upon. 

C.  S.  133  7.  Records  for  county,  how  to  be  Icept.  The  keeper  or  super- 
intendent in  charge  of  each  county  home  in  North  Carolina,  or  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  in  each  county  where  there  is  no  county  home,  shall 
keep  a  record  book  showing  the  following:  Name,  age,  sex,  and  race  of  each 
inmate;  date  of  entrance  or  discharge;  mental  and  physical  condition;  cause 
of  admission;  family  relation  and  condition;  date  of  death  if  in  the  home; 
cost  of  supplies  and  per  capita  expense  of  home  per  month;  amount  of  crops 
and  value,  and  such  other  information  as  may  be  required  by  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  or  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare; 
and  give  a  full  and  accurate  report  to  the  county  commissioners  and  to  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare.  Such  report  to  be  filed  an- 
nually on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  December  of  each  year. 

C.  S.  133  8.  Support  of  county  home.  The  board  of  commissioners  may 
provide  for  the  support  of  the  persons  admitted  by  them  to  the  home  for  the 
aged  and  infirm  by  employing  a  superintendent  at  a  certain  sum,  or  by  pay- 
ing a  specified  sum  for  the  support  of  such  persons  to  any  one  who  will  take 
charge  of  the  county  home  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  as  said  board  may  deem 
for  the  best  interest  of  the  county  and  the  cause  of  humanity. 

C.  S.  13  3  9.  Property  of  indigent  to  be  sold  or  rented.  When  any  indi- 
gent person  who  becomes  chargeable  to  a  county  for  maintenance  and  sup- 
port in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  article,  owns  any  estate,  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  board  of  commissioners  of  any  county  liable  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  such  indigent  person,  to  cause  the  same  to  be  sold  for  its  indem- 
nity or  reimbursement  in  the  manner  provided  under  article  three  of  the 
chapter  entitled  Insane  Persons  and  Incompetents,  or  they  may  take  posses- 
sion thereof  and  rent  the  same  out  and  apply  the  rent  toward  the  support  of 
such  indigent  person. 

C.  S.  13  40.  Families  of  indigent  militiamen  to  be  supportecl.  When  any 
citizen  of  the  State  is  absent  on  service  as  a  militiamen  or  member  of  the 
State  guard,  and  his  family  are  unable  to  support  themselves  during  his 
absence,  the  board  of  commissioners  of  his  county,  on  application,  shall 
make  towards  their  maintenance  such  allowance  as  may  be  deemed  reason- 
able. 


62  Poor  Eelief  in  North  Carolina 

C.  S.  13  41.  Paupers  not  to  be  hired  out  at  auction.  No  pauper  shall  be 
let  out  at  public  auction,  but  the  board  of  commissioners  may  make  such 
arrangements  for  the  support  of  paupers  with  their  friends  or  other  persons, 
when  not  maintained  at  the  county  home  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  as  may 
be  deemed  best. 

C.  S.  13  42.  Legal  settlements;  how  acquired.  Legal  settlements  may 
be  acquired  in  any  county,  so  as  to  entitle  the  party  to  be  supported  by  such 
county,  in  the  manner  following,  and  not  otherwise: 

1.  By  one  year's  residence.  Every  person  who  has  resided  continuously  in 
any  county  for  one  year  shall  be  deemed  legally  settled  in  that  county. 

2.  Ma7Tiecl  women  to  have  settlement  of  their  husbands.  A  married  woman 
shall  always  follow  and  have  the  settlement  of  her  husband,  if  he  have  any 
in  the  State;  otherwise,  her  own  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  if  she  then  had 
any,  shall  not  be  lost  or  suspended  by  the  marriage,  but  shall  be  that  of  her 
husband,  till  another  is  acquired  by  him,  which  shall  then  be  the  settlement 
of  both. 

3.  Legitimate  children  to  have  settlement  of  father.  Legitimate  children 
shall  follow  and  have  the  settlement  of  their  father,  if  he  has  any  in  the 
State,  until  they  gain  a  settlement  of  their  own;  but  if  he  has  none,  they 
shall,  in  like  manner,  follow  and  have  the  settlement  of  their  mother,  if  she 
has  any. 

4.  Illegitimate  children  to  have  settlement  of  mother.  Illegitimate  children 
shall  follow  and  have  the  settlement  of  their  mother,  at  the  time  of  their 
birth,  if  she  then  have  any  in  the  State.  But  neither  legitimate  nor  illegiti- 
mate children  shall  gain  a  settlement  by  birth  in  the  county  in  which  they 
may  be  born,  if  neither  of  their  parents  had  any  settlement  therein. 

5.  Settlement  to  continue  until  neio  one  acquired.  Every  legal  settlement 
shall  continue  till  it  is  lost  or  defeated  by  acquiring  a  new  one,  within  or 
without  the  State;  and  upon  acquiring  such  new  settlement,  all  former  settle- 
ments shall  be  defeated  and  lost. 

C.  S.  1343.  Removal  of  indigent  to  county  of  settlement;  maintenance; 
penalties.  Upon  complaint  made  by  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  county 
commissioners,  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  that  any  person  has  come  into 
the  county  who  is  likely  to  become  chargeable  thereto,  the  justice,  by  his 
warrant,  shall  cause  such  poor  person  to  be  removed  to  the  county  where  he 
was  last  legally  settled;  but  if  such  poor  person  is  sick  or  disabled,  and  can- 
not be  removed  without  danger  of  life,  the  board  of  commissioners  shall  pro- 
vide for  his  maintenance  and  cure  at  the  charge  of  the  county;  and  after  his 
recovery  shall  cause  him  to  be  removed,  and  pay  the  charges  of  his  removal. 
The  county  wherein  he  was  last  legally  settled  shall  repay  all  charges  occa- 
sioned by  his  sickness,  maintenance,  cure  and  removal,  and  all  charges 
whatever,  if  such  person  die  before  removal.  If  the  board  of  commissioners 
of  the  county  to  which  such  poor  person  belongs  refuses  to  receive  and  pro- 
vide for  him  when  removed  as  aforesaid,  every  commissioner  so  refusing 
shall  forfeit  and  pay  forty  dollars,  for  the  use  of  the  county  whence  the 
removal  was  made;  moreover,  if  the  board  of  commissioners  of  the  county 
where  such  person  was  legally  settled  refuses  to  pay  the  charges  and  ex- 
penses aforesaid,  they  shall  be  liable  for  the  same.  If  any  housekeeper  enter- 
tains such  poor  person  without  giving  notice  thereof  to  the  board  of  commis- 
sioners of  his  county,  or  one  of  them,  within  one  month,  the  person  so 
offending  shall  forfeit  and  pay  ten  dollars. 


PooK  Relief  in  I^oeth  Carolina  63 

County  Superintendent  of  Public  Welfare  to  Have  Supervision  of  Poor 

C.  S.  5017.  Powers  and  duties  of  county  superintendent.  The  county 
superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  be  chief  school  attendance  officer  of 
the  county,  and  shall  have  other  duties  and  powers  as  follows: 

1.  To  have,  under  control  of  the  county  commissioners,  the  care  and  super- 
vision of  the  poor,  and  to  administer  the  poor  funds. 

2.  To  act  as  agent  of  the  State  Board  in  relation  to  any  work  to  be  done  by 
the  State  Board  within  the  county. 

3.  Under  the  direction  of  the  State  Board,  to  look  after  and  keep  up  with 
the  condition  of  persons  discharged  from  hospitals  for  the  insane  and  from 
other  State  institutions. 

4.  To  have  oversight  of  prisoners  in  the  county  on  parole  from  peniten- 
tiaries, reformatories,  and  all  parole  prisoners  in  the  county. 

5.  To  have  oversight  of  dependent  and  delinquent  children,  and  especially 
those  on  parole  or  probation. 

6.  To  have  oversight  of  all  prisoners  in  the  county  on  probation. 

7.  To  promote  wholesome  recreation  in  the  county  and  to  enforce  such  laws 
as  regulate  commercial  amusement. 

8.  Under  the  direction  of  the  State  Board,  to  have  oversight  over  dependent 
children  placed  in  the  county  by  the  State  Board. 

9.  To  assist  the  State  Board  in  finding  employment  for  the  unemployed. 

10.  To  investigate  into  the  cause  of  distress,  under  the  direction  of  the 
State  Board,  and  to  make  such  other  investigations  in  the  interest  of  social 
welfare  as  the  State  Board  may  direct. 

District  Hospital-Homes 

[Laws  1923.] 

AN  ACT  TO  ENABLE  ANY  TWO  OR  MORE  COUNTIES  TO  ESTABLISH  A 
DISTRICT  HOSPITAL-HOME  IN  LIEU  OF  SEPARATE  COUNTY 
HOMES. 

The  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  do  enact: 

Section  1.  Any  two  or  more  adjacent  counties  may  by  action  of  the  county 
commissioners  in  said  counties,  as  hereafter  provided,  establish  a  District 
Hospital-Home  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm,  to  be  located  at  some  suitable  place 
within  the  counties  composing  the  district,  location  and  purchase  to  be  con- 
trolled by  a  board  of  trustees  appointed  by  the  county  commissioners  of  the 
respective  counties  owning  and  controlling  said  hospital-home,  each  county 
having  the  same  relative  vote  in  all  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees  as  such 
county  has  in  the  lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  2.  That  the  county  commissioners  of  the  aforesaid  counties  are  hereby 
authorized  and  empowered  to  sell  and  convey  by  deed  all  properties  held  by 
the  aforesaid  counties  for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  their  county's  poor, 
and  from  the  proceeds  of  such  sale  appropriate  so  much  as  may  be  required 
to  meet  said  county's  proportionate  part  of  the  funds  necessary  to  perfect 
the  completion  of  said  community  home  for  the  aged  and  infirm  as  provided 
herein. 

Sec.  3.  That  should  it  be  deemed  wisest  not  to  sell  said  properties,  or 
should  any  county  not  have  said  properties  in  its  possession,  or  should  any 
counties  have  said  properties  which  would  not  be  for  sale,  the  necessary 
funds  shall  then  be  raised  by  direct  taxation  within  the  county  or  counties 
preferring  this  method  of  raising  their  pro  rata  part. 


64  Poor  Relief  in  ^N'orth  Carolina 

Sec.  4.  That  the  several  boards  of  county  commissioners  shall,  as  soon  as 
they  shall  have  agreed  among  themselves  to  establish  a  District  Hospital- 
Home  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm  for  their  counties,  appoint  the  members  of 
the  board  of  trustees,  which  board  shall  be  known  as  the  Board  of  Trustees 

of  the  District  Hospital-Home  for  the  District  Comprising ,  , 

counties;  the  members  of  said  board  of  trustees  shall  be  appointed 

every  two  years  by  the  boards  of  county  commissioners,  the  term  of  office 
for  said  trustees  shall  be  two  years,  and  until  their  successors  are  chosen 
and  qualified;  that  all  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by  the  several  boards  of 
county  commissioners  and  said  commissioners  shall  provide  for  the  expense 
and  compensation  of  said  board  of  trustees. 

Sec.  5.  That  this  board  of  trustees  shall,  as  soon  as  possible  after  appoint- 
ment, assemble  and  organize  by  the  election  of  a  chairman,  a  secretary  and 
a  treasurer,  which  last  officer  shall  be  bonded.  They  shall  proceed  promptly 
with  the  purchase  of  a  site  for  such  hospital-home,  including,  if  they  deem 
it  desirable,  a  farm  of  suitable  size,  location  and  fertility,  giving  due  con- 
sideration to  sanitary  surroundings  and  transportation  facilities;  provide 
for  the  necessary  stock,  tools  and  farm  equipment,  and  shall  then  cause  to  be 
erected  suitable  plain,  substantial,  comfortable  and  permanent  buildings  for 
the  accommodation  of  those  for  whom  this  act  is  intended,  giving  due  regard 
to  the  separation  of  the  sexes  and  races,  and  such  other  plans  for  segregation 
as  their  judgment  and  existing  conditions  may  suggest.  Said  buildings  are 
to  be  furnished  with  plain,  substantial  furniture,  and  such  other  equipment 
as  conditions  demand. 

Sec.  6.  That  the  several  counties  constructing,  equipping,  and  operating 
a  district  hospital-home  shall  pay  for  the  site  and  for  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  the  plant  in  proportion  to  the  taxable  property  of  the  several 
counties  and  shall  own  in  the  same  proportion,  but  the  operating  expenses 
shall  be  borne  by  the  several  counties  in  proportion  to  the  population  of 
the  county. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  shall  have 
prepared  plans  for  such  district  hospital-home  and  shall  furnish  such  plans 
on  request  to  any  board  of  trustees  of  any  district  hospital-home  at  cost; 
and  that  all  such  hospital-homes  shall  be  built  in  accordance  with  plans  fur- 
nished or  approved  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare. 

Sec.  8.  That  as  soon  as  the  district  hospital-home  is  ready  for  occupancy 
the  several  county  homes  or  poorhouses,  heretofore  owned  by  the  several 
counties,  shall  be  closed  and  occupants  shall  be  transferred  and  located  in 
the  district  hospital-home  for  the  aged  and  infirm  herein  provided  for. 

Sec.  9.  That  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  said  district  hospital-home  shall 
elect  a  capable  superintendent  and  such  other  employees  as  it  may  deem 
necessary  to  the  efficient  management  of  said  district  hospital-home,  and 
shall  fix  their  salaries  with  due  regard  to.  number  and  condition  of  inmates 
occupying  said  district  hospital-home. 

Sec.  10.  That  the  board  of  trustees  shall  meet  at  least  twice  a  year  for 
the  transaction  of  such  business  as  their  positions  may  require.  They  shall 
have  the  general  conduct  and  management  of  the  district  hospital-home's 
affairs.  They  shall  meet  at  the  call  of  the  chairman  whenever  he  shall  deem 
it  necessary,  or  upon  call  issued  by  a  majority  of  the  board. 

Sec.  11.  That  the  matter  to  be  considered  at  any  special  meeting  shall  be 
set  out  in  the  call  for  the  special  meeting,  but  any  business  may  be  trans- 
acted at  special  meetings  which  received  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  entire  board 
of  trustees,  although  not  mentioned  in  the  call. 


Poor  Relief  in  N^orth  Carolina  65 

Sec.  12.  That  the  boaT-d  is  vested  with  all  powers  not  already  mentioned 
which  are  possessed  by  boards  supervising  State  institutions. 

Sec.  13.  That  any  two  or  more  counties  constructing,  operating  and  main- 
taining a  district  hospital-home  for  the  aged  and  infirm  shall,  as  required  by 
law  now  in  force  for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  those  not  able  to  care  for 
themselves,  send  such  person  or  persons  to  the  district  hospital-home  for  the 
aged  and  infirm  in  lieu  of  the  county  home,  and  shall  pay  the  expense  of 
maintenance  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the  county. 

Sec.  14.  That  as  soon  after  the  first  day  of  January  of  each  year  as  may 
be  practicable  the  board  of  trustees  shall  cause  a  report  to  be  made  of  the 
hospital-home,  which  report  shall  show  the  number  of  inmates,  the  county 
admitting  them,  date  of  admission,  age,  condition  of  health,  sex,  color,  educa- 
tional acquirements,  diagnosis  of  disease  if  diseased,  total  number  of  inmates 
received  during  the  year,  average  number  cared  for  per  month,  names  and 
disposition  of  those  dismissed,  pro  rata  cost  of  maintenance,  the  total  amount 
of  money  expended,  the  total  amount  of  money  received  from  each  county, 
and  such  information  as  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare 
and  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  district  hospital-home  may  demand.  It  shal? 
also  show  an  inventory  and  appraisement  of  property,  real  and  personal,  and 
give  a  strict  account  of  receipts  from  farm  and  expenditure  thereon,  and 
such  other  information  as  may  be  required  to  check  up  the  institution  from 
all  viewpoints. 

Sec.  15.  That  a  copy  of  the  said  report  of  the  said  board  of  trustees  shall 
be  furnished  the  county  commissioners  of  the  respective  counties  interested 
in  and  providing  said  district  hospital-home. 

Sec.  16.  That  all  acts  or  parts  of  acts  not  consistent  with  this  act  are 
hereby  repealed. 

Sec.  17.  That  this  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  ratification. 

Ratified  this  the  6th  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1923. 

SUMMARY   AND   CONCLLSIONS 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  summarize  the  logical  conclusions  from  our  dis- 
cussion of  the  county  home  problem,  in  the  form  of  concrete  statements 
forming  a  standard  or  a  series  of  standards  that  we  believe  to  be  attainable 
in  any  county  home  in  which  there  are  a  sufficient  number  of  inmates  to 
make  it  practical  to  maintain  an  institution  for  their  care.  No  county  that 
does  not  have  such  a  number  of  inmates  should  attempt  to  maintain  a  county 
home  until  every  other  possible  method  of  caring  for  its  poor  in  an  efficient 
and  humane  way  has  been  investigated.  In  those  counties,  or  groups  of 
counties,  that  should  undertake  the  maintenance  of  a  county  home,  the  fol- 
lowing standards  are  attainable: 

The  County  Home  Farm 

The  county  home  farm  should  consist  of  a  small  acreage  of  fertile  land. 
The  farm  should  be  on  a  good  road  easily  accessible  to  the  county-seat. 
The  objects  of  operating  the  farm  should  be: 

1.  The  production  of  an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  vegetables  and  fruits 
for  as  great  a  part  of  the  year  as  possible,  and  a  surplus  for  canning  and 
storage. 

2.  The  production  of  a  supply  of  milk  and  butter  at  all  seasons. 

3.  The  production  of  a  supply  of  chickens  and  eggs. 

4.  The  production  of  meats  other  than  chickens.  A  few  hogs  may  be  kept, 
but  in  no  case  should  the  main  effort  of  the  superintendent  be  directed  to- 
ward the  production  of  pork. 


66  PooE  Relief  in  I^orth  CxIkolina 

Buildings 

The  county  home  should  be  a  plain,  substantial  structure  of  brick.  A 
single  building,  or  a  group  of  connected  buildings  is  best  suited  to  our  needs. 
Segregation  of  races  and  of  sexes  should  be  possible.  That  such  a  building 
may  be  attractive  is  shown  by  the  frontispiece. 

Bedrooms  large  enough  for  a  single  inmate,  with  a  few  suites  of  two 
rooms  for  old  couples,  are  to  be  preferred. 

The  furnishings  of  the  bedrooms  should  be  inexpensive,  but  substantial 
and  attractive.  The  minimum  should  be  a  single  bed  furnished  with  good 
springs  and  a  comfortable  mattress,  a  pillow,  two  sheets,  blankets,  and 
coverlet;  a  comfortable  chair;  a  mirror,  comb,  and  brush;  and  a  small  closet 
for  clothes. 

There  should  be  an  attractive  and  comfortable  living  room  for  each  race. 
These  should  be  furnished  with  comfortable  chairs. 

There  should  be  a  dining-room  for  each  race.  These,  next  to  the  living 
rooms,  should  be  the  most  attractive  in  the  institution.  They  are  usually, 
next  to  the  kitchen,  the  least  attractive. 

The  kitchen  and  pantries  should  be  of  ample  size  and  well  equipped. 

Baths  and  toilets  should  be  conveniently  located.  There  must  be  pro- 
vision for  hot  and  cold  water,  and  a  modern  sewerage  system. 

Safety  for  inmates  and  property  demands  some  form  of  steam  heat  and 
electric  lights. 

Plans  for  new  homes  should  be  drawn  by  a  competent  architect  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  for  approval. 

Supervision 

The  county  commissioners  should  retain  only  general  supervision  of  the 
county  home. 

The  superintendent  of  public  welfare  should  have,  under  the  direction  of 
the  commissioners,  active  supervision  of  the  county  home.  He  should  in- 
vestigate every  application  for  admission;  advise  with  the  superintendent  of 
the  home,  and  keep  the  commissioners  advised  as  to  conditions  in  the  home. 
He  should  have  authority,  possibly  with  the  approval  of  the  chairman  of 
the  board  of  commissioners,  to  act  in  emergency  cases. 

The  superintendent  of  the  county  home  should  be  chosen  for  his  fitness 
for  the  position.  He  should  be  the  equal,  in  intelligence  and  culture,  of  the 
courthouse  officials. 

The  matron,  whether  the  wife  of  the  superintendent  or  another,  should 
be  of  the  same  superior  type.  Both  should  be  persons  of  tact  and  skill  in 
handling  the  difficult  types  of  which  the  county  home  population  is  made  up. 

Both  the  superintendent  and  the  matron  should  be  paid  a  salary.  The 
payment  of  a  certain  sum  per  inmate  per  month  is  unsatisfactory.  The 
method  of  selling  the  keeping  of  the  county  home  to  the  lowest  bidder  is 
indefensible  and  is  in  violation  of  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  law. 

Heat,  Light,  and  Water 

The  open  fireplace  and  the  stove  in  the  bedrooms  of  inmates  should  be 
replaced  by  steam  heat,  even  where  there  is  no  question  of  economy  of  fuel, 
because  of  the  danger  to  the  property  as  well  as  to  inmates.  There  should 
be  an  open  fireplace  in  each  living  room,  but  nowhere  else. 

Electric  lights  should  be  installed  in  all  cases.  If  the  home  is  not  within 
reach  of  electric  current,  a  small  plant  may  be  installed  for  a  few  hundred 
dollars.     The  kerosene  lamp  is  too  dangerous  to  be  tolerated. 


Poor  Relief  in  Koeth  Carolina  67 

The  water  supply  should  be  more  carefully  safeguarded  than  is  usual  in 
county  homes.  In  some  sections  of  the  state  a  spring  properly  located  and 
protected  provides  a  good  source  for  the  water  supply.  In  the  mountain 
counties  a  pipe-line  from  a  spring  on  the  hills  above  the  home  may  provide 
an  adequate  supply  of  water  under  pressure  at  a  very  small  cost.  In  other 
sections  a  well,  deep  enough  to  insure  pure  water  and  carefully  enclosed, 
should  be  provided.  Running  water  under  pressure  may  be  provided  at  a 
trifling  cost  by  installing  a  pump  operated  by  a  small  electric  motor;  or  in 
case  the  county  generates  its  own  electricity,  the  pump  may  be  operated 
in  connection  with  this  plant.  An  elevated  tank  is  not  necessary.  A  metal 
tank  in  the  basement  will  be  found  perfectly  satisfactory.  Such  a  plant  to 
furnish  lights  and  water  will  cost  but  a  few  hundred  dollars.  Occasionally 
it  may  be  possible  to  get  water  from  a  city  system. 

Sanitation 

A  county  home  can  be  kept  clean. 

Disinfectants  may  be  used  under  the  direction  of  the  county  health  offi- 
cers; but  not  as  a  substitute  for  soap  and  water. 

Inmates  should  have  at  least  one  full  bath  a  week. 

Clothing  should  be  changed  once  a  week,  or  oftener  when  necessary. 

Every  inmate  should  be  furnished  with  night  clothes  and  required  to  use 
them. 

Every  bed  should  have  two  sheets,  which  should  be  changed  once  a  week, 
or  oftener  when  necessary. 

Individual  drinking  cups  should  be  provided. 

The  building  should  be  completely  screened  and  no  flies  should  be  toler- 
ated, especially  in  the  kitchen,  the  pantry,  and  the  dining-room. 

Bed-bugs  and  cockroaches  are  not  necessary  inhabitants  of  a  county  home. 

Sewerage 

In  the  case  of  a  private  family  a  simple  type  of  pit  privy  may  prove  fairly 
satisfactory;  but  such  a  privy,  aside  from  its  inconvenience,  is  very  hard  to 
manage  in  connection  with  a  county  home.  The  open  privy,  of  course,  must 
go.  Usually  county  homes  will  be  too  far  out  to  be  connected  with  city 
sewerage,  A  private  sewerage  system  with  a  septic  tank  may  be  installed 
at  a  very  small  cost,  and  when  properly  installed  gives  satisfaction. 

Food 

Plain,  wholesome,  appetizing  food  should  be  provided.  The  home  demon- 
stration agent,  in  the  many  counties  where  there  is  such  an  officer,  should 
be  the  representative  of  the  county  commissioners  in  seeing  that  the  in- 
mates of  the  county  home  receive  such  food. 

Records 

Two  well-bound  books  should  be  furnished  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
county  home.  One  of  these  should  be  for  a  record  of  inmates,  A  second 
should  furnish  a  record  of  all  products  of  the  farm,  whether  sold  or  used 
in  the  home.  In  addition,  the  superintendent  should  have  a  requisition  book 
in  which  he  keeps  a  copy  of  every  item  of  supplies,  etc.,  purchased  by  him. 


